The Peoria Public School District is adopting a new ticketing procedure at Wednesday night’s Illinois High School Association regional boys basketball games, following a request from the Peoria Police Department.
According to Superintendent Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat, Peoria High School student athletes and cheerleaders get five passes, which allow entry to the building. She says viewers will also have to pay for a $5 ticket, due to IHSA guidelines for the regional games.
Staff can enter the school, along with one guest, as long as they have their badge.
“I would rather apologize for inconveniences than for other fatal situations,” said Dr. Desmoulin-Kherat. “So this change is maybe an inconvenience for a lot of folks, but it's definitely a safety measure that we believe-it will be a very safe event.”
The start time for both games is earlier as well: Peoria High plays Manual High at 4:30 p.m. and Richwoods High plays Peoria Notre Dame at 6:00 p.m. Officials say there is also a “no bags” policy for the games.
Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria says the decision is based on three shootings from the last week and a half: more than 30 rounds fired at Creighton and Big Hollow on Feb. 13, over 80 rounds fired in the 700 block of East Bergan on Feb. 19 and more than 50 rounds fired in the 1600 block of Stanley on Feb. 20.
Echevarria says all three incidents are possibly related to homicides in 2020 and 2022. There’s no other details on these connections available at this time.
“There has not been any direct threats to any of the schools or the specific basketball events,” he said. “However, the Peoria police department does have an obligation to do whatever is necessary to protect our community, our students and our families from violence. And that is what this is about.”
There will also be an increased police presence at the games.
Echevarria says there is no connection to an incident at a Peoria High School football game in August, where a fight prompted discussions about the level of security at sporting events. However, in general, he encourages everyone to stay alert in large groups.
“On these three incidents, the high amount of rounds that are fired, the calibers that are fired. We're talking about rifle rounds, we're talking about high capacity rounds,” he said. “And I think we all have to be on alert. These are senseless acts. Rounds are going everywhere. And that's what we're trying to control at this point.”
It has not been decided whether these ticketing procedures will be used at Friday’s IHSA regional championship game as well, but Desmoulin-Kherat says the district is "looking into it."
