The shooting happened around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday as a group of young men watched their girlfriends play football at the high school, witnesses say. The game was not sanctioned by the school and school was not in session at the time of the shooting.

Witnesses told police that a Ford Taurus full of young men drove onto the field and a brief fistfight broke out. The fight appeared to be over before the shooting started, police say.

Someone in the crowd of spectators may have fired back at the gunmen, witnesses told police. The names of those who were shot have not been released.

Officers later found a blood-stained Ford Taurus at an apartment complex five miles away.

Police couldn’t confirm whether the shooting victims were themselves part of a gang, but they say gang ties appear to be part the of the shooters’ motive.

• An ambush and  massacre of a convoy carrying of a political rival’s family, supporters and at least 22 journalists was found buried in mass graves hastily dug by a backhoe.
• In all, 57 were said to be shot at point blank range and some hacked up.
• All of this was traced to a rival vice mayor, Ismael Mangudadatu filing to run for governorship in the next election.  Having received death threats, Ismael sent his wife, sisters and other female relatives to submit papers on his behalf.
• The man arrested for the slaughter was the Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., 41, who headed up a large, powerful clan that ruled the area for years and were known for their ruthlessness.
• Prosecutors accuse him of leading a military and police force numbering 100 and forcing the victims to  a hilltop clearing where they wer gunned down and buried in mass graves.
• The mayor is under arrest and hundreds of pro-government militiamen have been disarmed since the massacre.  (He blamed the murders on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who are known for past violence but who have denied having anything to do with the killings.)
• There is likely to be more trouble and revenge killings.