Eden Prairie Schools evacuated the high school homecoming game after an emergency and sent people to Round Lake Park for reunification. The school building was placed on a hold while the response continued, and people inside were told to stay put as police, fire crews and EMS worked at the scene.
Eden Prairie Road response
Numerous squads were seen heading north on Eden Prairie Road around 8:50 p.m., signaling a fast-moving response around the school campus. The Eden Prairie Police Department, Eden Prairie Fire Department and Hennepin County EMS were on scene as the evacuation unfolded.
Eden Prairie Schools also said people who needed to be picked up could exit the campus from the baseball diamonds. That gave families a second way out while the reunification point handled the rest of the crowd.
Round Lake Park reunification
Round Lake Park was the designated place for people to regroup after leaving the campus. For a school event with students, families and staff, that kind of reunification point becomes the main handoff site once movement is restricted and the building is no longer open for normal exit patterns.
Staff inside the building were working to support students while movement throughout the school was restricted during the hold. That meant two things were happening at once: the event crowd was being moved away from the campus, and people already inside were kept in place.
As of 9:45 p.m.
As of 9:45 p.m., Eden Prairie police said the area was secure, but evacuations were still ongoing. That combination leaves the campus in an unusual state: the immediate area was considered safe enough for control of the scene, yet the school and event were still not back to normal operations.
The remaining question is the one the response has not answered: what was the emergency that prompted the evacuation? For people tied to the homecoming game, the practical step was to follow the reunification process and use the campus exit by the baseball diamonds if pickup was needed.
