Students say ‘hero’ high school football star died shielding others from shooting at fall festival

Bryce Gerlach, 18, was fatally shot at a festival in New Albany, Indiana

Bryce Gerlach, 18, was shot while attending a festival in Indiana on Saturday (WAVE)

High school football star Bryce Gerlach, 18, has been hailed a hero after he died shielding his friends from a shooting at a fall festival in Indiana.

The shooting occurred after a dispute between two groups at the Harvest Homecoming festival in New Albany, Indiana around 10pm on Saturday. The teenager was fatally shot at the scene, and two others, an unidentified 22-year-old man and 44-year-old woman were taken to the hospital, WAVE reported. There were at least two shooters.

Police believe Corydon Central High School student Gerlach and the injured individuals were innocent bystanders.

By Monday, memorials to Gerlach dotted the high school’s campus. His peers believe he died protecting them from an unthinkable tragedy. They’ve chosen Gerlach’s favorite color — blue — to school in his memory.

“It was very selfless what he did, and I’m thankful he went out in such a heroic way so that’s how people remember him because that’s what he was. He was a hero,” Tanner Chumbly, one of the teenager’s closest friends, told the outlet. “I just sat in my bed for hours and thought, ‘Why him?’ It shouldn’t have been him. He didn’t deserve that.”

Gerlach played on the school’s varsity football team. Following his death, the school hung a photo of him on the fence in front of the field.

South Harrison Community School System Superintendent Mark Eastridge also reflected on the teen’s memory.

“You had a young man that was just going out to enjoy himself with friends at a local festival, and to have his innocence and his life ripped from him by the senseless violence, it makes it all the more difficult to deal with as a school and a school community,” Eastridge told WAVE.

The suspects remain at large. Police described them as men in their teens and early 20s. They fled the area after the shooting. One suspect has been identified as a male with dreadlocks wearing a red hoodie, the outlet reported, adding all the suspects are still considered dangerous.

Police say while they have identified several people as persons of interest, they have not positively identified anyone.