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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Eden Prairie Cancels Homecoming Dance as Police Call Shooting That Wounded Two Teens Gang-Related
Two St. Paul teenagers suffered non-life-threatening injuries in a shooting outside Eden Prairie High School during Friday night's homecoming football game, prompting evacuation of the stadium and cancellation of Saturday's homecoming dance as police investigate what they describe as targeted gang-related violence.
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN (October 4, 2026).
Eden Prairie High School's homecoming weekend was abruptly disrupted after two teenagers were shot outside the school's football stadium Friday night, leading school officials to cancel Saturday's homecoming dance while police investigate the shooting as a targeted, gang-related incident.
Eden Prairie police said the two people wounded were teenagers from St. Paul and were not students in either the Eden Prairie or Minnetonka school districts. Their injuries were described as non-life-threatening.
The shooting occurred outside the stadium while Eden Prairie was playing Minnetonka in its homecoming football game. The stadium was evacuated as police responded, transforming what had been a major school-community gathering into an active crime scene and forcing the interruption of the game.
Police subsequently said investigators believe the shooting was targeted and gang-related. That finding narrows the circumstances investigators are examining but does not diminish the disruption to students, families, staff and spectators who were gathered for the game.
No arrest had been announced in the latest information available to MinneapoliMedia.
The school district canceled Saturday's homecoming dance following the shooting. That decision extended the consequences of the incident beyond Friday night's stadium evacuation and effectively ended one of the school's central homecoming-weekend activities.
The distinction between targeted violence and an indiscriminate attack is important for understanding the investigation. Police have not indicated that Eden Prairie or Minnetonka students were specifically being targeted as students, and the two people who were shot were not enrolled in either district. At the same time, the violence occurred at a school gathering attended by large numbers of young people and families, creating an immediate public-safety concern regardless of the alleged motive.
The investigation now centers on identifying the person or people responsible and reconstructing the circumstances that brought the victims and shooter or shooters to the area outside the stadium.
Until arrests or charging documents provide additional evidence, significant questions remain unanswered, including how many people were directly involved, what led to the confrontation and whether investigators recovered a firearm or other physical evidence.
The shooting also presents Eden Prairie school officials with questions extending beyond the criminal investigation. Homecoming football games routinely attract larger crowds than ordinary school events, including students, alumni, families and visitors. Friday's shooting will likely prompt scrutiny of security arrangements, access to school grounds and how districts respond when violence occurs immediately outside a large school event.
For now, the most consequential development is that police no longer describe the incident simply as an unexplained shooting outside a football game. Investigators believe it was targeted and gang-related, two teenagers were wounded, the stadium was evacuated and the school canceled its homecoming dance while the search for those responsible continues.
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