Arsenal have reacted angrily after midfielder Aaron Ramsey suffered a serious injury that echoed the broken leg sustained by team-mate Eduardo da Silva in 2008.
Shawcross left the field in tears, while players from both sides were visibly traumatised as medics administered emergency treatment and gave Ramsey oxygen.
The game was stopped for several minutes before Ramsey was stretchered into an ambulance and driven away from the Britannia Stadium.
Sky television decided not to show replays of the challenge because they considered the footage to be too upsetting.
Manager Arsene Wenger said the injury was a consequence of the excessively physical approach teams take against his side.
"The only thing is we do not know how long he will be out, but it is certainly long term," he said.
"I'm not very happy with the tackle. I just want to say we know what we are expecting, a battle everywhere.
"But we have now lost three players -- (Abou) Diaby, Eduardo and now Ramsey today, a boy of 19 years old to horrendous tackles.
"The first two were out for nine months to a year, and I don't believe in coincidence when you suffer this as many times as we do.
"When you see a player get injured like he (Ramsey) did tonight, its not acceptable."
Stoke manager Tony Pulis said he was "desperately upset" as well, adding: "Ryan has no malice in him at all, he is a young kiddie and he was crying his eyes out as he went off the pitch.
"He will be devastated. There is no way in a million years he would set out to do that to any player.
"Our thoughts go out to Aaron and everyone connected to Arsenal Football Club."
"There was absolutely no malice in the challenge. I would never, ever go out to hurt a fellow professional," Shawcross later said on the club's website.
"I am deeply upset that Aaron has suffered such a bad injury and my thoughts are with him. I would like to send him my best wishes too for a speedy recovery."
Arsenal went on to win the game 3-1 with goals from Nicklas Bendtner, Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen after Danny Pugh opened the scoring for Stoke.
Speaking after the game, Fabregas called for referees to stamp out on dangerous challenges, saying: "You could say we are not protected enough. I think so."
Croatian striker Eduardo missed nearly a year with a compound leg fracture following a tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor in 2008. Diaby was injured after a challenge by Sunderland's Dan Smith two years earlier.
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