A football game between Manteca High School and Stockton’s Cesar Chavez High School ended early Friday night after police said a gun was fired into the air during an altercation outside the stadium.

No one was struck by the gunfire, according to the Manteca Police Department.

Police said officers received a report of shots fired at 9:27 p.m. Friday near the gym on the Manteca High School campus, where the varsity football game was underway.

Six Manteca police officers had already been assigned to the game. Officers working at the school and patrol officers responded to the area after the gunfire, police said.

Investigators found shell casings at the scene. Police said preliminary information indicated a physical altercation between people outside the football stadium led to a firearm being fired into the air.

Three people were detained in connection with the incident, according to a police news release issued Friday night.

Police have not publicly identified the people detained or said who fired the gun. The department also has not released additional information about what led to the altercation.

The game was about four minutes from ending in the fourth quarter when the gunfire occurred, police said. People began fleeing the game after hearing the shots, and officials called the game early.

Manteca High Principal Megan Peterson told families in a Facebook post following the incident that school administrators, staff and emergency personnel worked to clear the campus safely.

“I know how deeply unsettling this was,” Peterson wrote. “Experiencing sudden distress at a school event is something no student, athlete, parent, educator, or community member should ever have to experience.”

Peterson said counseling and mental health support would be available when students returned to campus Monday for students, athletes or staff members who needed help processing the incident.

“Our students’ emotional well-being is our immediate priority,” Peterson wrote. 

Stockton Unified School District spokesperson Melinda Meza said no Chavez students were involved in the incident and that school officials accounted for all of the team’s athletes before they returned to Stockton by bus.

“We were able to account for our athletes and get them on the bus safely back to Stockton,” Meza said.

The district notified families that night that the students were safe, Meza said. Chavez staff members were also at the school when the team returned to welcome students back and check on them.

The Manteca Police Department said its investigation remains active and that information was limited because of the ongoing investigation.

Police asked anyone who witnessed the gunfire or has video or information about the people involved to call the department at 209-456-8101.