Regina cheer coach recalls weekend in Dallas: live shooter scare chaos

A Regina cheerleading coach who was caught up in a panicked mob during an active shooter scare is still finding herself revisiting the moment she and the athletes she was responsible for, could be hurt or killed.

“The thought of thousands of people running towards me screaming and crying and yelling ‘active shooter,’ ” said Elizabeth Hwang. “That will probably never leave my brain.”

Hwang was at the National Cheerleaders Association All-Star National Championships in Dallas, Texas, over the weekend of March 1 with her team Showdown with Regina’s Rebels Cheerleading Athletics.

On Saturday afternoon, a series of loud bangs rang out at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Centre that were perceived to be gunshots.

Two other Saskatchewan teams from Warman and Saskatoon competed at the event, but were not in the building during the time of the evacuation.

The Dallas Police Department has confirmed that there was no shooting. Instead, police said the loud bangs were caused by poles being knocked over by parents fighting in the building.

Regardless, Hwang said the situation has left everyone involved shaken. Nobody on the team was hurt.

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“When you are running for your life and you think you are going to die and you think there is an active shooter on the loose, that fear is so very real,” she said.

“At the end of the day, there could have been a gun, there could not have been a gun, but the feelings would not have changed.”

Hwang was on the bottom floor of the competition venue with a few cheerleaders, reviewing the scorecard from the team’s performance from the day before.

As Hwang and the girls were walking outside to practice the changes to their routine, a stampede of 3,000 people ran towards them screaming.

“I will never be able to get rid of that image in my head,” she said.

While people rushed past, she heard some yelling that there was a shooter in the building, which Hwang told the girls to run.

“It happened so fast,” she said. “People were getting trampled, breaking ankles, it was insane.

“The fact that we got out without anyone tripping (or) being trampled is just crazy.”

Hwang remembers the chaos of the situation, caught up with thousands of people shouting and crying as they ran down the street. Once the group got to a safe spot she texted other coaches to make sure all other coaches and cheerleaders on the team were OK.

Outside the venue:

A few blocks away, Ryan Campbell was sitting in a cafe with other parents on the team while the kids practiced.

Campbell said different messages began coming in that there was an active shooter at the competition. His thoughts immediately moved towards his 11-year-old daughter who was with the coaches at the venue.

“There was panic, there was nervousness, anxiety just kind of spiked,” he said. “But we didn’t know what was actually happening.”

While tens of thousands of people ran away from the building, parents from the team moved against the crowds to reunite with their children.

“Just craziness and panic everywhere,” he said, describing the walk to the venue. “No one really knew what was happening.”

All members of the team and parents were reunited at the hotel.

Team meeting:

In a team meeting that evening, the team decided it would compete the next day, but Hwang said many, including herself were anxious to return to the building.

Campbell noticed there was a larger security and police presence when entering the building.

The team would end up placing third in its Level 3 – U16 division at the competition.

“It was so powerful coming together as a family and getting on that stage, it wasn’t even about cheerleading at that point,” Hwang said.

While it was special to watch the girls make the podium, Campbell said it was the girl’s maturity throughout the situation that made him the most proud.

“I think fear was the big thing that a lot of these athletes definitely overcame by performing,” he said. “It was amazing to see.”

In her 15 years involved with cheerleading, Hwang has never seen a major shutdown at a competition.

“I feel anger for my kids, because this was supposed to be an amazing weekend of them watching great cheerleading and them being able to put out the routine they worked so hard on, and that was basically ruined,” she said.

Going forward, the team is making changes. At each competition, they will decide on a muster point in any situation where the kids are separated from their parents.

Showdown does not have a lot of time to decompress after their harrowing experience.

They’ll take part in one of the largest cheer competitions in western Canada this weekend in Warman, Sask.

On Monday night, Showdown also found out their performances in Dallas earned them an invitation to the Summit Championships in Walt Disney World, Florida in May.

-With files from the Green Zone’s Jamie Nye.