Fans watching a halftime performance by a Mississippi high school marching band Friday night were outraged at a show that depicted students holding toy guns and an apparent shooting, The Daily Leader of Brookhaven reported.

>> Read more trending news

According to WLBT, photos taken during the halftime show of a football game showed the visiting Forest Hill High School band dressed as doctors and nurses holding SWAT team members at gunpoint.

The make-believe gunplay at Brookhaven High School comes less than a week after the shooting deaths of Brookhaven policemen Zach Moak and James White, who were killed last Saturday, the Daily Leader reported.

"At no point in time is this acceptable," Susan Mathes May wrote on Facebook. "At any school, at any performance, in any town."

Gov. Phil Bryant called the performance unacceptable.

The halftime performance by the Forest Hills High School band was supposed to depict a hostage scene from the move "John Q," Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Errick L. Greene said, WLBT reported.

"The band's performance does not depict the values and people in our community, and was incredibly insensitive to the students, families, law enforcement officials and the entire Brookhaven community," Greene said in a release Saturday, WLBT reported.

About the Author

Keep Reading

The air traffic control tower is seen on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, while smoke rises from the crash site of UPS flight 2976 near Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Ky. (Jon Cherry/AP)

Credit: AP

Featured

Travelers walk around the baggage claim in the South Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. Atlanta is among the airports where the FAA will reduce flights due to the shutdown, and airports are facing a shortage of air traffic controllers. 
(Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez