Cameron Everest Brand of Pass Christian is charged with murder and aggravated assault, jail records show. Bay St. Louis Police Chief Toby Schwartz said in a news release that police identified Brand as the sole shooter through witness and victim statements.

An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old died in a New Orleans hospital, Schwartz said. The Orleans Parish coroner did not return a phone call seeking to confirm their identities.

Friends and family identified them as De’Arreis “DD” Smith, 18, and Haeleigh Stamper, 16, classmates at Hancock High School.

Smith was a senior getting ready to graduate, according to Kecia Sams, who considered him an adopted member of her family.

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“De’Arreis Smith was an amazing soul, a loyal friend, brother and uncle,” Sams told Nola.com. “He was loved by many and will be missed so very much by his family.”

A GoFundMe account was set up to help with funeral expenses for Stamper. In the posting, the organizer, Lillie Smith, described the teen as a “sweet soul.”

“Her beautiful smile would light the whole room up,” Smith said.

Brand was arrested at his home in neighboring Pass Christian and taken to jail, Schwartz said. Bay St. Louis Municipal Court Judge Stephen Maggio denied Brand bail, and he was being held in the Hancock County jail. It is unclear if Brand has a lawyer who could speak for him.

Students had gathered for a party at the home on a sparsely populated road after Bay High School’s prom. Local news outlets reported that trails of blood could be seen on the pavement Sunday outside the home, while cars were peppered with bullet holes. The home is less than a mile from Bay High.

Police said the six victims wounded by gunfire ranged in age from 15 to 18. All were taken to area hospitals, some by helicopter.

Casey Woods, an 18-year-old student at Pass Christian High School, told the Sun Herald of Biloxi that he was at the party with a girlfriend. He told the paper he saw Brand talking to people and then walking away before he returned and the shooting started.

“Me and my girl looked up and saw sparks coming from the gun,” Woods said, adding many people ran into the woods.

Both of the teens who died had attended nearby Hancock High School in Kiln, officials in that school district said. Two more Hancock High students were shot and wounded, as were two students from Bay High. Those are the only two public high schools in Hancock County, on the western end of the Mississippi Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Gulfport.

“Our hearts are broken as we mourn the tragic loss of two Hancock High School students who were victims of the shooting in Bay St. Louis last night,” the Hancock County school district said in a statement, saying counselors would be available Monday at school. “Let us come together as a community to show our support and love during this difficult time.”

Sandra Reed, superintendent of the Bay St. Louis-Waveland school district, said both of the wounded Bay High students were expected to recover. Bay High Principal Amy Necaise said the school was making faculty and staff available on campus Sunday afternoon to counsel students.

The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, remained at large more than 18 hours after the shooting and authorities warned that he might still be armed. The attack happened just before midnight Friday near the town of Cleveland, north of Houston, on a street where some residents say it is not uncommon to hear neighbors unwind by firing off guns.

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said Oropeza used an AR-style rifle, and as the search for him dragged into Saturday evening, authorities had widened their efforts to as far as “10 to 20 miles” from the murder scene. He said Oropeza may still have a weapon but that he believes authorities have the rifle used in the shooting.

Capers said they found clothes and a phone while combing a rural area that includes dense layers of forest but that tracking dogs had lost the scent.

“He could be anywhere now,” Capers said.

Capers said the victims were between the ages of 8 and 31 years old and that all were believed to be from Honduras. All were shot “from the neck up,” he said.

The attack was the latest act of gun violence in what has been a record pace of mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, some of which have also involved semiautomatic rifles.

The mass killings have played out in a variety of places — a Nashville school, a Kentucky bank, a Southern California dance hall, and now a rural Texas neighborhood inside a single-story home.

Capers said there were 10 people in the house — some of whom had just moved there earlier in the week — but that that no one else was injured. He said two of the victims were found in a bedroom laying over two children in an apparent attempt to shield them.

A total of three children found covered in blood in the home were taken to a hospital but found to be uninjured, Capers said.

FBI spokesperson Christina Garza said investigators do not believe everyone at the home were members of a single family. The victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 8.

The confrontation followed the neighbors walking up to the fence and asking the suspect to stop shooting rounds, Capers said. The suspect responded by telling them that it was his property, Capers said, and one person in the house got a video of the suspect walking up to the front door with the rifle.

The shooting took place on a rural pothole-riddled street where single-story homes sit on wide 1-acre lots and are surrounded by a thick canopy of trees. A horse could be seen behind the victim’s home, while in the front yard of Oropeza’s house a dog and chickens wandered.

Rene Arevalo Sr., who lives a few houses down, said he heard gunshots around midnight but didn’t think anything of it.

“It’s a normal thing people do around here, especially on Fridays after work,” Arevalo said. “They get home and start drinking in their backyards and shooting out there.”

Capers said his deputies had been to Oropeza’s home at least once before and spoken with him about “shooting his gun in the yard.” It was not clear whether any action was taken at the time. At a news conference Saturday evening, the sheriff said firing a gun on your own property can be illegal, but he did not say whether Oropeza had previously broken the law.

Capers said the new arrivals in the home had moved from Houston earlier in the week, but he said he did not know whether they were planning to stay there.

Across the U.S. since Jan. 1, there have been at least 18 shootings that left four or more people dead, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today, in partnership with Northeastern University. The violence is sparked by a range of motives: murder-suicides and domestic violence; gang retaliation; school shootings; and workplace vendettas.

Texas has confronted multiple mass shootings in recent years, including last year’s attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde; a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019; and a gunman opening fire at a church in the tiny town of Sutherland Springs in 2017.

Republican leaders in Texas have continually rejected calls for new firearm restrictions, including this year over the protests of several families whose children were killed in Uvalde.

A few months ago, Arevalo said Oropeza threatened to kill his dog after it got loose in the neighborhood and chased the pit bull in his truck.

“I tell my wife all the time, ‘Stay away from the neighbors. Don’t argue with them. You never know how they’re going to react,’” Arevalo said. “I tell her that because Texas is a state where you don’t know who has a gun and who is going to react that way.”

In an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie, airing in full on Thursday, April 27, Todd and Lisa Sturgeon expressed their sorrow to the families of those their 25-year-old son shot before he was killed by police.

“We are so sorry. We are heartbroken,” Lisa Sturgeon emotionally told Savannah when asked what they would want to say to the families. “We wish we could undo it, but we know we can’t.”

Police said Sturgeon was an employee at Old National Bank on East Main Street in Louisville, where he opened gunfire at 8:38 a.m. on April 10 while live-streaming. Officers responded within three minutes, where they returned gunfire and ultimately killed the shooter.

The five killed were identified as Tommy Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; Jim Tutt, 64; Josh Barrick, 40, and Deana Eckert, 57.

Police released 911 calls from that morning, including one from Lisa Sturgeon who called concerned that her son could be heading to the bank after his roommate told her something wasn’t right.

“I don’t know what to do, I need your help,” Lisa Sturgeon told the operator. “He’d never hurt anyone, he’s a really good kid.” She also told the operator that he didn’t have any guns, but police later said that he purchased an AR-15 six days earlier.

In a press conference on the day of the shooting, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that he ran his campaign for state attorney general out of the same building where the bank was located and was close friends with Elliott.

“This is awful,” Beshear said at the time. “I know virtually everyone in it. That’s my bank.”

One of the injured was 26-year-old Officer Nickolas Wilt, who was shot in the head. LMPD Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said in a press conference that she had sworn Wilt in as an officer on March 31, only 10 days before the shooting.

“I just swore him in, and his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer,” Gwinn-Villaroel said.

President Joe Biden shared a statement on Twitter hours after the shooting, saying that he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for those killed and affected.

“Once again, our nation mourns after a senseless act of gun violence. … Too many Americans are paying for the price of inaction with their lives,” he said. “When will Republicans in Congress act to protect our communities?”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

• Parents of Louisville bank shooter say they joined son for psychiatrist appointment 4 days prior
• 1 killed and 1 in custody after shooting at Oklahoma college, officials say
• 3 arrested in Alabama Sweet 16 shooting that killed 4 and injured 32

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Just after midnight, deputies responded to shots fired at a private residence in Jasper County where the party was held and found nine victims with gunshot wounds, according to a statement by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. According to Jasper County officials, the injuries are expected to be non-life threatening.

About 250 people are estimated to have been present at the time of the shooting, according to a statement from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

Eight victims were taken in personal vehicles to Jasper Memorial Hospital in Jasper, Texas, and “at least one” of those were transferred to Christus Southeast Texas-St. Elizabeth Hospital in nearby Beaumont, Texas for further treatment, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Karli Cherry said. One person did not go to the hospital, she said.

A second shooting within the city limits of Jasper, Texas occurred shortly after the first, the statement said. There were no injuries in the second shooting, but a connection between the two incidents is being investigated due to a “common vehicle at both locations,” the statement said.

According to the statement, “people of interest are being questioned” and the investigation is ongoing.

Tallapoosa County District Attorney Mike Segrest said two teens — Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, both of Tuskegee — would be tried as adults. That’s automatically required in Alabama for anyone 16 or older charged with murder. Investigators said Wednesday that Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn also was arrested on the same charge.

Sgt. Jeremy J. Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced the latest arrest but declined earlier to discuss specifics of how the shooting unfolded or a possible motive.

“We can’t get into a motive right now, because that would be part of an ongoing investigation,” Burkett said at a news conference earlier Wednesday. “We can’t share that.”

State law defines reckless murder as when someone causes a death by acting with extreme indifference to human life and recklessly engaging in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person.

Segrest had said earlier that prosecutors would ask a judge to hold the teens without bail. A bond hearing must be held by Friday under Alabama law. Online court records do not show any previous adult charges in state court for either of the arrested teens. Authorities had no immediate information about Hill’s arrest or when he might face an initial court appearance.

It was not known Wednesday afternoon if any of the three had attorneys who could comment for them.

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Saturday’s violence shocked Dadeville, a sleepy town of 3,200 people about 45 minutes north of Tuskegee. The shooting was the 16th mass killing of the year in the United States. A 17th took place in Maine on Tuesday. A total of 88 people have died in the killings so far in 2023.

A mass killing is defined as when four or more people were slain, other than the perpetrator, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

The birthday girl’s brother, 18-year-old Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell of Camp Hill, died in his sister’s arms. He and another victim, 17-year-old Shaunkivia Nicole “KeKe” Smith of Dadeville, were high school seniors. Families were left planning funerals instead of graduation celebrations.

Also killed were Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, of Opelika and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, of Dadeville. Another 32 people were wounded and Segrest said four are still in critical condition. He said more charges would be coming.

“We’re going to make sure every one of those victims has justice, not just the deceased,” Segrest said, speaking to reporters from the steps of the Tallapoosa County courthouse.

A family member of KeKe Smith was thankful for the arrests.

“It don’t make the hurt any easier. But we are relieved that they (the suspects) are not out in the community,” Amy Jackson said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. Alexis Dowdell’s birthday party was being held at a dance studio just off the town square. Witnesses said multiple people began shooting some time after her mother paused the celebration to ask people with guns to leave.

“It’s Lexi’s 16th birthday party, Sweet Sixteen,” Segrest said. “There’s uncut cake and unburned 16 candles that never got lit. Lexi’s brother was one of the victims. On her 16th birthday party, she knelt by her brother as he took his last breath.”

Alexis Dowdell told The Associated Press on Monday said her brother pushed her down onto a blood-slick floor during the shooting. “I guess he tried to push me out the door as fast as he could.” She and her mother, LaTonya Allen, ran away, but returned to find Phil Dowdell bleeding to death and fading in and out of consciousness.

Phil Dowdell was a star wide receiver with plans to play college football at Jacksonville State University. Smith was a talented athlete who became a team manager after she was sidelined by a knee injury. Collins was a 2020 Opelika High School graduate who planned to start college in the fall after taking a year off to try his hand at music. Holston was a 2018 Dadeville High graduate and former athlete at the school.

Segrest said dozens of teens from multiple nearby towns attended the party, spreading trauma across the region like a “wave.”

“There were so many kids in this venue and what they saw, they’re victims in this,” he said. “Their families are victims of this.”

The district attorney said that grand jurors typically meet in Tallapoosa County in March and September, but he said he would recall grand jurors to seek an indictment before September. “If we can establish the facts and are ready to present that, we will be asking our grand jury to come back in,” Segrest said.

This was the first police news conference since Sunday.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency had said only that shell casings from handguns had been found, noting that there was no evidence a high-powered rifle was used. Burkett again appealed for information from attendees and the public.

In 2020, Alabama had the fifth highest rate of gun deaths in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Somebody’s got to start thinking about mama, because I know I’m tired of it and everybody behind me is tired of it,” Burkett said. “We’re tired of going to the mothers and having to tell them that these kids are not coming home.”

One of the wounded people remained in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, according to the update from state and local police on the rampage in Bowdoin and Yarmouth, in which authorities identified all seven victims. Earlier Wednesday, police revealed that Joseph Eaton, 34, had a criminal history that should have prevented him from legally possessing a gun, according to state records.

“As horrible as this situation is, as tragic as this is, it seems to be an isolated incident and not part of a bigger problem,” Maine State Police Col. Bill Ross said.

He said the four people Joseph Eaton shot and killed in Bowdoin were his parents, 66-year-old David Eaton and 62-year-old Cynthia Eaton, as well as their friends and the owners of the home, 72-year-old Robert Eger and his wife, 62-year-old Patricia Eger.

David Eaton was found outside in the barn, and the other three were found inside the home. Autopsies determined that all four died of gunshot wounds and their deaths have been ruled homicides, according to police.

The three people who were shot on I-295 in Yarmouth were 51-year-old Sean Halsey and his children, 29-year-old Justin Halsey and 25-year-old Paige Halsey of Bowdoinham, police said. Paige remained hospitalized in critical condition, while Sean and Justin were expected to survive.

After he was arrested in the woods near I-295, police said, Joseph Eaton confessed to killing his parents and their friends in Bowdoin and said he believed the four vehicles he shot on the highway were police vehicles that were following him.

Eaton had just been released from the Windham Correctional Facility on Friday after serving a sentence for aggravated assault. Upon his release, his mother met him at the prison and brought him to Bowdoin to stay with the Egers.

The shootings in Maine began in the small town of Bowdoin. Then a chaotic scene developed in which shots were fired at vehicles on an interstate highway over 20 miles away in the community of Yarmouth, police said. Police have asked anyone with video that shows I-295 between exits 20 and 15 around the time of the Yarmouth incident to contact Maine State Police at 207-624-7076.

“This is an active investigation with a lot of moving parts,” Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson, said Wednesday.

Joseph Eaton was charged with four counts of murder but was not immediately charged in the highway shootings, she said. He was jailed while awaiting a court appearance. It was unclear if he had an attorney to speak on his behalf, a jail official said Wednesday.

Ian Halsey, of Bowdoinham, said that two cousins were shot and that his uncle suffered shrapnel injuries in a single car. None of the family knew the shooter, he said.

“They were just passersby in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said of his family. “It’s horrible what happened.”

Eaton was charged over the past decade with more than a half-dozen crimes and served an eight-month sentence last year for assault, according to state records. Past convictions included aggravated assault, a felony that would prevent him from legally having a firearm.

The origins and ownership of the firearms used in Tuesday’s shootings were unclear. State police declined to comment on the weapon that was used.

The seven people shot Tuesday were the latest victims of mass shootings in the U.S., whose targets included a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee; a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, and a Sweet Sixteen party in a small city in Alabama.

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“Nobody is prepared to die, especially when it’s a young person, this was not planned, we all need help when it comes to that,” said Camila Jaimes, a cousin of Rangel.

On Sunday, the family held a cookout in the Pleasant Grove area to help raise money to pay for funeral and burial costs.

“It’s been the worst week ever,” said Jaimes.

“It’s difficult because this is the first tragedy that hits my family, on my side of the family, to the core. Our grandparents are still alive, and it’s really hard to deal with because for someone to take somebody else’s life, it’s just the worst.”

Jaimes helped coordinate the large cookout on Sunday that was made up of donated food from extended family and the community. It included tacos, flautas, enchiladas and other traditional dishes of Rangel’s family background that people could buy.

“Food is our love language. We’re from Mexico, we’re from Guerrero. Everybody cooks, everybody brings their favorite dish and we feed our family, to gather, to talk to our family members,  to kind of take our minds off of what’s really going on but also doing a cause and helping out with funeral expenses,” explained Jaimes.

The shooting happened last weekend on Saturday, the eve of Easter when Rangel was outside a gas station. Police didn’t specify what led up to the shooting, but the unknown suspect took off. Rangel died at the hospital.

“Dallas, that night that he passed, there were 7 or 8 shootings that night. It’s ridiculous that we can’t even go to the gas station without fearing for our lives,” said Jaimes.

“Gun violence, now it’s horrible in Dallas, everywhere in this world I think, that’s why we need to figure out gun violence. We have to make a stop to this, it’s getting out of control.

Dallas PD said the suspected shooter was last seen getting into a 2006 or 2007 Buick Rendezvous being driven by a female.

DPD released a composite sketch of the shooter and surveillance video of the getaway car.

“Family is our everything and that person that murdered my cousin, does not know that, he had so many people that loved him and we are going to miss him tremendously,” said Jaimes.

“I’m ready to lay him to rest, and find the person that did this to him.”

The family said they raised about $5,000 earlier in the week from a bake sale and hope the cookout fundraiser will bring in more money.

Jaimes said the funeral is expected to cost around $15,000.

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Among those killed was a high school senior who planned to play college football and was celebrating his sister’s 16th birthday. The shooting erupted Saturday night at a dance studio in downtown Dadeville.

During two news conferences Sunday, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not take questions. He did not say if a suspect was in custody or if investigators knew about any motivation. He did not provide the names of those killed.

“We’ve got to have information from the community,” Burkett said during a Sunday evening news conference.

Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to Jacksonville State University, was celebrating at his sister Alexis’ party before he was shot to death, his grandmother Annette Allen told the Montgomery Advertiser.

“He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,” Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile.”

Dowdell’s mother was among those hurt in the shooting.

“Everybody’s grieving,” Allen said.

Burkett said the shooting occurred about 10:30 p.m. Saturday. “There were four lives tragically lost in this incident,” he said.

The shootings rocked the city of 3,200 residents, which is about 57 miles (92 kilometers) northeast of Montgomery, Alabama.

Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the party, told WBMA-TV that the party was stopped briefly when attendees heard someone had a gun. He said people with guns were asked to leave, but no one left. Cooper said when the shooting began some time later, some people took shelter under a table where he was standing, and others ran out.

Pastor Jason Whetstone, who leads the Christian Faith Fellowship, said the granddaughter of one of his church members was shot in the foot and underwent surgery Sunday.

“All of our hearts are hurting right now. We’re just trying to pull together to find strength and comfort,” Whetstone said before an interfaith vigil in the parking lot of First Baptist Church.

“We are a loving community,” he said. “We’re pulling together in every aspect to comfort each and every one of these children, the teachers, all of the community.”

Dadeville’s compact downtown is centered around a courthouse square with one- and two-story brick buildings. The town’s busiest commercial district is a few blocks north of the square, off a bustling four-lane highway that runs between Birmingham and Auburn. Dadeville is close to Lake Martin, a popular recreational area.

Investigators on Sunday continued filing in and out of the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio, denoted by a banner hanging on the outside of a one-story brick building just off the square. At least five bullet holes were visible in the studio’s front windows. Less than a block away, the American and Alabama flags were lowered to half staff outside the Tallapoosa County Courthouse.

Dadeville Mayor Frank Goodman said he was in bed asleep when a council member called him just before 11 p.m. Saturday. He said he went to Lake Martin Community Hospital in Dadeville, where some of the people who had been shot were taken.

“It was chaotic,” Goodman said. “There were people running around. They were crying and screaming. There were police cars everywhere, there were ambulances everywhere. People were trying to find out about their loved ones. That was a scene, where we never had anything like this happen in our city before.”

Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and for the local high school football team, said most of the victims are teenagers. Dowdell was within weeks of graduation and faced a bright future, Hayes told The Associated Press.

“He was a strong competitor on the field,” Hayes said. “You didn’t want to try to tackle him or get tackled by him. But when he came off the field, he was one of the nicest young men that you could ever meet, very respectful and well-respected by his peers.”

Antojuan Woody, from the neighboring town of Camp Hill, was a senior and fellow wide receiver with Dowdell on a Dadeville Tigers football team that went undefeated before losing in the second round of the playoffs last year. He said he and Dowdell had been best friends for all of their lives. “It hurts,” Woody said as a steady stream of friends and teammates walked over to hug him during Sunday’s prayer vigil. “It’s unreal. I can’t believe it.”

Woody said he and Dowdell had a special relationship on the football field. “Us being friends forever like that, our chemistry was spot on. We always celebrated together on the field,” he said.

He described the victims “as great people who didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

Hayes, the pastor, said worried families swarmed the local hospital Saturday night trying to find the condition of their children. He said serious crime is rare in Dadeville, and the small city is “sad, traumatized, in shock.”

Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez said in a statement Sunday: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Philstavious Dowdell and the other victims of the senseless tragedy last night. He was a great young man with a bright future.”

Dowdell also recently won medals at a high school track meet at Troy University.

Counseling will be available for students at Tallapoosa County schools Monday, said the school district superintendent, Raymond C. Porter.

“This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said on social media.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting, the White House said, adding that it is closely monitoring the situation and has been in touch with local officials and law enforcement to offer support.

“What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park?” Biden said in a statement Sunday. “Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising – not declining. This is outrageous and unacceptable.”

Biden called on Congress to “require safe storage of firearms, require background checks for all gun sales, eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

The mayor said Dowdell was “a great young man.” He also said he is concerned about those wounded and psychologically traumatized by the shooting.

“We are praying for them,” Goodman said. “We ask God, if it’s his will, to bring them back to their parents safe, so they can mend.”

Goodman said guns and violence are not a frequent presence in Dadeville. He said trying to control guns would prove as futile as trying to control illegal drugs.

Dadeville High School had 485 students in grades 6-12 in 2022, according to Alabama state data. It serves Dadeville and nearby parts of Tallapoosa County. Like the rest of Dadeville, it’s tucked away just out of view off a busy highway that runs from Birmingham to Auburn.

Dadeville High’s head football coach Roger McDonald said he would try his best to support grieving students.

“There’s not a playbook for something like this,” he said. “So the best you’ve got to do is just love on your kids, let them all know how much you care about them, be there for them.”

McDonald said Dowdell had something special.

“He was a leader, and as far as his ability, an electrifying player,” the coach said.

Michael Taylor, an assistant coach, said he met Dowdell when the boy was 9 and coached him in youth football. Taylor said the team was invited to Atlanta to play in the stadium used by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

“He did some amazing things there, and he never stopped doing them since then,” he said. “He was the No. 1 athlete in the school.”

Taylor said he last heard from Dowdell on Friday, when Dowdell was seeking video of his athletic exploits. Taylor said he drove to the shooting scene Saturday night from his home in nearby Camp Hill.

“Man, I couldn’t get close,” Taylor said. “So once I found out what’s going on, I really I just had to leave because it was going to be all night.”

Taylor said he returned Sunday to see Dowdle’s body carried out from the dance studio. He said he’s not sure what he will tell other athletes Monday.

“The first thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to pray our way out of this,” Taylor said Sunday. “There ain’t no other way. And then I can tell you, they’re all real close like family at the high school.”

This is at least the second time in recent years that multiple people were shot in Dadeville. Five people were wounded in July 2016 during a shooting at an American Legion hall, and a man was later charged with five counts of attempted murder, news outlets reported.

Kim Chandler reported from Huntsville, Alabama.

The shooting occurred around 6:45 p.m. during a balloon release at McCormick Park in Fort Wayne, Officer Anthony Krock told The Journal Gazette.

One woman and three men were taken to a hospital. Krock did not release their conditions.

Krissy Williams told the newspaper that the memorial was held to honor Tyreece Vachon, 19, who was fatally shot Tuesday outside an apartment complex.

Police did not immediately return a message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Fort Worth Police said they responded to a 911 call in the 2100 block of Daniel Street.

When officers arrived, they found a teenage girl with a gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to the hospital but died from her injuries.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the teen as Natavia Lewis.

Police said homicide detectives are interviewing witnesses and the person responsible for firing the gun which caused the fatal injury, but at this time no arrests have been made.

Just days before in Arlington, a 2-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself after finding a gun in a sibling’s bedroom. On March 30, a Fort Worth toddler was hospitalized after finding an unsecured gun and also accidentally shot herself. She was taken to the hospital and survived.

“It’s so tragic, they’re all preventable,” said Dr. Daniel Guzman, a pediatric emergency room doctor at Cook Children’s in Fort Worth. “

He said last year they saw 45 accidental shooting-related injuries in the ER, eight were fatal. Over the past three years, a total number of 155 accidental shooting injuries, and 15 of those children died.

From first-hand experience, he’s seen the damage associated with guns that are not secure.

“One day, I saw a 2-year-old who came in and shot himself and unfortunately, I saw my own child in it and that was a spark for me to say, ‘I need to do more,'” said Guzman who is also a father and a gun owner.

He created ‘Aim for Safety’ in partnership with Cook Children’s in 2017 after seeing an increase in kids coming into the ER with accidental gunshot wounds.

The mission is to provide education about gun safety and make it just as important as other topics for parents that are talked about such as water safety, sleep safety and more.

“I want to challenge everyone out there, if you own a firearm look at what you’re doing at home and how you’re storing your firearms and take a look at what can we do better to keep our kids safer,” Guzman said.

He said the topic of guns in a politically charged world can come with raised eyebrows, but his main focus is on providing safe solutions to keep kids safe. He wants to provide safeguards for those who do keep firearms at home and let people know they’re not exempt from an accident.

“If you own a gun you have to be responsible and know that a gun can kill someone within your own family, you can use it for protection, yes, but it has that lethality that someone in your home could get hurt if it’s not stored properly,” he said.

Guzman said he’s heard from people who express disbelief that something like an accidental shooting could happen in their home, but he said there’s no reason to take a chance with kids, who know how to get into everything.

“They’re so curious, they’re going to get into places that we don’t expect them to, and so just because you think you put that gun or hid that gun well enough for someone to not find it, our kids are going to find it. They know where they’re at, growing up as a kid, I knew where my dad’s firearms were,” said Guzman.

Lockboxes, gun locks, and safes are suggested as ways to store guns and secure them.

Across North Texas, police departments provide free gunlocks for gun owners.

To learn more about gun safety and how to talk to children about what to do if they find a gun, click here.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday, officers were called to a home in the 5300 block of Pocassett Drive after a woman said her son was bleeding. Around the same time, a neighbor called police to report hearing a gunshot.

When officers arrived, they found a toddler with a gunshot wound.

“It’s always a sad and unfortunate situation when a child is injured in any kind of way, so arriving on scene and seeing a child with a gunshot wound to the face is disheartening,” said Sgt. Courtney White with the Arlington Police Department. “It’s mentally draining, emotionally draining, and just an overall a bad situation.”

The 2-year-old was taken to the hospital but later died. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as Rio Carrington.

“A child is dead and a mother is going to have to basically bury her baby because the child located a firearm and harmed himself,” said White.

Police believe the toddler found the gun in an older brother’s bedroom and believe he was in the room by himself at the time of the shooting.

No one has been arrested and detectives are interviewing everyone who was home, according to White.

She said detectives are tracing where the gun came from to know who it belonged to and how it got into the house.

POLICE URGE GUN SAFETY

Officers are also taking this time to remind people to secure their firearms.

“Please lock your handguns up. They can get into the wrong hands or they can get into a child’s hands, and something this serious and unfortunate can happen,” said White. “And now, this mom is going to have to bury this young child.”

She said they have hundreds of gunlocks that they can provide to the public for free. The Arlington Police Department is located at 620 West Division Street.

“This is easily preventable. We try to tell the public to be good, responsible firearm owners, meaning if your weapon is not in use or not on the firing range, you need to lock it up,” said White.

Officers served an arrest warrant to 30-year-old Brandon Leotta Rutt early Saturday morning. Grapevine Police said Rutt, who lives in Euless, was taken into custody at his apartment. He’s been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

“We’re very proud of the staff we have, sworn and non who worked on this case, developing leads getting addresses and then acting so quickly. Our detectives worked all night to get this arrest, they didn’t go to sleep, they wanted to make sure this man was off the streets and to protect everyone,” said Amanda McNew, a spokesperson for the Grapevine Police Department.

During rush hour on Friday, A 27-year-old woman entered the southbound lanes of Texas 121 near Bass Pro Drive near the merge with Texas 114 at about 7:15 a.m., according to police.

In a statement, police said she encountered an aggressive driver already traveling on 121. The two became involved in a road rage confrontation.

“He pulled up next to her, so she was driving in one lane and he was next to her, on her driver’s side, when he got his gun out, aimed at it, went through her driver-side window, through her neck and out the passenger window, so it shattered the glass,” explained McNew.

She said the 27-year-old’s husband was on the phone during the incident.

“She was driving home and he heard everything happening, so when he got to the scene he was worried, [asking,] ‘Is my wife going to be alive or not?'” described McNew.

The woman survived the shooting and gave the police her account and a description of the shooting. It is possible the woman may have cut off the suspect, according to police. The two drivers began driving next to each other, the suspect then drove in front of the woman, then pulled back up next to her silver Honda CRV.

Police said the man then pointed a small pistol at her and fired. The bullet went through the woman’s neck.

She safely pulled over on the shoulder of the highway as the man kept driving away.

“She’s very fortunate and lucky that she’s alive and that she was able to pull over,” said McNew.

Paramedics transported the woman to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Grapevine detectives and police used information from both the victim, a witness and surveillance video. Officials worked throughout the night to obtain evidence and ensure their findings were correct and had enough evidence to arrest Rutt.

“We appreciate the victim who was able to stay calm enough to pull over safely which helped save her life, a witness who also stopped to help and all the detectives putting so many hours trying to find video, work off a description and be able to locate this vehicle and make an arrest so quickly,” said McNew.

The shooting at Bitter End bar left two victims dead after the male victim was on the patio of the bar when he was approached by an unknown suspect. Moments later, the suspect fired multiple rounds, striking the victim and a female victim, according to preliminary information.

Police said 37-year-old Rickey Gossett and 30-year-old Danielle Jones were killed.

Leo Papanickolaou with a local glass company, Omega Glass was hired by the owner of Bitter End.

“We do a lot of glass work down here,” Papanickolaou said. “I usually take them all out. Just, you know, get it all cleaned up and then, you know, put in a new glass and get the other ones ordered.”

Papanickolaou boarded up the bar window. A local painter was hired to paint the wood black. A power washer worked throughout the morning to clean the patio floors where the male victim was gunned down.

Visitors took pictures as they walked by, shocked by the outcome.

“During the day, it’s pretty calm out here,” Dueñes said. Dueñes is an employee in the Deep Ellum area. “Usually, there’s not too much incidents during the day.”

Dueñes said he enjoys visiting the businesses in Deep Ellum but, is cautious.

“Me and my friends, they stop coming out here at night,” Dueñes said. “Now that the weather is getting better, people start coming out.”

In a statement to NBC 5, Stephanie Hudiburg, Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation, said it is working to advance its Deep Ellum Community Safety Plan which includes a dedicated Dallas Police Department Unit.

According to Hudiburg, the foundation is, “taking a holistic approach to preventing and combating crime while facilitating a welcoming environment for all who wish to come and enjoy all the arts, culture, dining, entertainment and rich history Deep Ellum has to offer.”

Dueñes said he has noticed a difference since the dedicated police unit was established in November 2022.

“I think I’ve seen an increase in police presence, especially security during the day and night. They block off the streets at night and there’s cops at every corner,” Dueñes said.

Officers with the Dallas Police Department surrounded Bitter End located at the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and Elm Street before 1 a.m.

Police said the woman was shot through a window and was standing inside the bar when the suspect shot at the male victim on the patio.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police worked overnight to collect evidence and clear the scene.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests have been made however, Hudiburg said the incident was captured on video.

While the video has not been made public, Hudiburg said a copy was given to investigators.

It is unclear if Bitter End will reopen Wednesday as the owner could not be reached for comment.

Police continue to search for the suspect who ran northbound on Elm Street wearing a black hoodie with a design or lettering on the front, shorts, and a ski mask.

He is described as a Black male who is approximately 6 feet tall with a thin build.

Anyone with information about this crime, the suspect’s identity, or the suspect’s whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Kofi Sapon-Amoah at 214-671-3657 or kofi.sapon-amoah@dallaspolice.gov.

A doorbell camera captured what appeared to be an argument in the street followed by gunshots. One of the bullets pierced through the window of a neighbor’s home, entered a toddler’s playroom, went through a wall, and ricocheted off blinds and a picture frame before it landed in a cat’s litter box.

Neighbors believe all the shooting stemmed from a party that was happening at the rental property across the street on Cannes Drive.

The owner of the home, Jennifer Xiao, wrote a statement apologizing to her neighbors and also sharing her concerns.

“First of all, I need to say sorry for what has happened, I apologize to my neighbors. I feel very sad for myself and my neighborhood,” said Xiao.

She said recently got divorced and is a single mother and needed extra money, so she turned the home into a short-term rental.

Xiao says she selected online booking companies such as Airbnb and VRBO to list the house. She said some bookings were blocked through Airbnb because they were “considered as risky.”

She said the guests who stayed at her home the weekend of Feb. 26 were through Vrbo.

“On the night of the shooting, I repeatedly confirmed that everything was normal and reminded the guests not to disturb the neighbors, then I went to sleep. The next day at 6 am, I got emails and text messages from my neighbor. When I saw the words ‘gunshot,’ I felt like I had been shocked by electricity. It was the first time in my life that I had a direct connection with such a horror crime,” said Xiao.

In the statement, she stated that she’s angry with how Vrbo handled the case.

“I called Vrbo customer service immediately for help, but after I reported the shooting, they just kept asking me to provide evidence. I made second and third calls, they didn’t care what happened and didn’t ask anything about the
shooting. They just kept repeating the same words. Vrbo’s website claims to provide $1 million liability insurance for each host to cover the neighbor’s damages, but when I made a request for my neighbor, they ignored it,” said Xiao.

NBC 5 reached out to Vrbo via email, which is the only way provided on their website to get in contact, but has not heard back.

“The shooting has had a tremendous impact on me, and our neighborhood. I am so scared and also very self-blaming. I feel sick when I talk and think about that house. I can’t sleep, I may need mental help. I fully understand my neighbors’ concerns. I know what safety means to the residents, especially it’s a peaceful, and safe neighborhood,” said Xiao.

Outside of this specific incident, those against short-term rentals say this is an example of why they want to see them gone in Plano.

“Our goal is to basically enforce the law, to enforce the prohibition of mini-hotels in our single-family residential neighborhoods,” said Bill France with Plano Texas Neighborhood Coalition.

France said people renting out their homes for short stays violate existing laws he said aren’t being enforced, which is why he and others want a specific short-term rental ordinance like in Arlington.

“The city of Arlington took the steps to say, ‘this is where you’re allowed to have short-term rentals, and this is where you’re not’ and that’s all we’re asking the city to do,” said France.

Plano City Council plans to discuss short-term rental ordinances next Monday, March 13.

On the other side of the coin, there are those who do favor short-term rentals.

“I feel like it should be allowed, but with many restrictions,” said Ofir Bugana, a realtor who also owns some short-term rental properties herself.

Bugana, who said she’s sold homes to people in Plano who planned to rent it out, said she agrees neighbors should not be disturbed.

She said she supports restrictions such as not allowing large parties or groups to rent out properties, but not an entire ban.

Bugana said she tries to take extra steps to ensure not that her neighbors, guests and home are safe.

“The neighbors, they have my personal number, they can reach out to me at any time even in the middle of the night, to make sure they feel safe. Before that, I screen my guests to be sure they’re not doing any parties any noises after 10 or at all, we actually have noise sensors in our house,” explained Bugana.

She acknowledges that there may be people who don’t operate short-term rentals properly and is against that, but doesn’t believe all short-term rentals should be punished.

“If one actor is not behaving then that doesn’t mean everyone else should suffer,” said Bugana who said she supports working together as a community to keep people safe.

Frisco Police said officers were called to a shooting at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday after multiple people reported hearing gunfire near Alviso Road and Shasta Drive. At least one of the callers reported seeing an injured person on the ground and others leaving the area in a vehicle.

When officers arrived they began providing first aid to a man with apparent gunshot wounds. Shortly after arriving, police said other officers found a second person running away and took him into custody.

A short time later, someone called 911 to report an injured person near the 10400 block of Attleborough Drive. It was there that officers found two men they said were involved in the shooting. One of the men had multiple gunshot wounds and was provided first aid. Both men were arrested.

Despite being shot multiple times and being hospitalized, police said the injuries to both men were not considered life-threatening.

Three of the men are facing charges ranging from aggravated robbery to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The fourth person remains in the hospital with charges pending.

The identities of the four individuals have not been released since the investigation is ongoing.

Investigators have released few details of what led to the shooting but said two people in a car met up with two people from the neighborhood and that there was an altercation between the group that escalated into gunfire that injured two people.

Of the four individuals involved in the shooting, one of the wounded remained at the vehicle while another tried to leave on foot. The other two people involved, including the other person that was wounded, went to a residence on Attleborough.

Frisco Police said the shooting was an isolated incident with no threat to the surrounding community.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is requested to contact the Frisco Police Department at 972-292-6010.

A Clark Atlanta University student-athlete was fatally shot on Tuesday and the suspect remains at large, according to the Atlanta Police Department. 

The victim has been identified by the university as Chicago native Jatonne Sterling, a 20-year-old sophomore who played on the baseball team.

Atlanta police responded to a call near the LYKE House Catholic Center shortly before 2 p.m. where Sterling was pronounced dead. He had a gunshot wound, police said.

There is no suspect in custody, however, authorities believe Sterling knew his killer and was shot during a dispute in the parking lot, according to wsbradio.com.

“Clark Atlanta Athletics send its condolences to Jatonne Sterling’s family and friends. Gone too soon. Please keep Jatonne’s family in your prayers,” CAU Athletics said in a statement on Instagram. 

Police said on Wednesday that the investigation remains “highly active.” 

The university is organizing a candlelight vigil where the shooting took place on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., 11alive.com reported.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Atlanta Police or 911.

Ring video from a neighbor’s front porch captured the loud arguing followed by rapid gunfire.

“My husband was looking out the bedroom window, I was looking out this window, like, ‘What is going on?’ Then gunshots rang out. I just hit the floor and yelled at my husband to do the same thing,” said Jorja Landauer who lives on the street and has been in their house since 1999.

She and several other neighbors spent Monday morning reflecting on what happened and told reporters about what they experienced and the fact something like this has not happened before.

“I heard like ‘bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.’ I woke up and I said, ‘I think our house is being shot at,’ said Zoey Sanchez.

Sanchez said she and her husband were sleeping in their toddler’s bedroom in the back of the house and were glad they did because, in the morning, they found evidence of what they heard in their daughter’s playroom.

“There’s a bullet hole and not only that, there’s a bullet hole above the mirror and play kitchen, and it goes through that wall, hits a window on the other side and ricocheted off of one of my concert posters,” described Sanchez who said they would end up finding the bullet in the cat litter box.

“It’s such a nice quiet neighborhood, I never thought this would happen here,” said Sanchez who moved there in August.

“I told my daughter, ‘If you ever hear mommy or daddy say like, drop down, this is what you do.’ I showed her, I laid on the floor and told her, ‘You won’t move until we tell you to,’ and that makes me emotional to think I have to talk to my three-year-old about that because somebody is being really irresponsible,” expressed Sanchez who began to choke up.

Plano Police said they did respond to the neighborhood after the reports of gunfire.

They arrested a 24-year-old man from Fort Worth for evading detention and possessing marijuana over 4 ounces and under five pounds. An 18-year-old female was also arrested, police said for interfering with public duties of a peace officer.

As for who fired the gun in the street, police said that’s still under investigation.

The owner of the rental told NBC 5 over the phone she was working to get details on what happened and would circle back.

Neighbors said outside of the shooting, what happened speaks to a larger issue in terms of short-term rentals and they want them done away with in suburban neighborhoods like theirs.

“It may not be a party that’s so loud that it leads to police or ends in gunfire, but there’s trash, there are cigarette butts, there’s wine bottles,” said Terri Frazier who is relatively new to the neighborhood.

She lives next door to the rental property and said she’s constantly hearing loud parties and dealing with trash.

“Several of us believe short-term rentals shouldn’t be allowed in suburban neighborhoods,” said Frazier. “We haven’t seen the owners since this party, the owners are rarely there. Some of us have met and spoke to the owners, they’re rarely there, they’re absentee landlords and absentee landlords have no reason to be concerned about community standards and the fear that parties create.”

“I think what happened here is horrendous, although unintended, it has an incredibly negative impact on the neighborhood and the city,” said Chris Brackmann who lives on the street.

“What the city needs to do is step up and put an end to short-term rentals, it’s inappropriate for this area,” said Chris Brackmann a neighbor who wants STR to go.

“When you talk about short-term rentals, you think of a place like Orlando, Disney World, Branson,” said Brackmann. “Why do we have short-term rentals in Plano? The only thing it can bring is parties and that’s not what this neighborhood needs.”

The frustrated neighbors plan to speak during public comment at Monday’s city council meeting.

The topic of short-term rentals has come up recently after a sex trafficking ring was broken up at a rental home in Plano.

Acosta doesn’t deny his 14-year-old son, Abel carried out the heinous ambush in December of 2021 but he insists he had no idea what his son did at the time.

Acosta spoke from the stand in his own defense Thursday afternoon which led families of his sons’ victims to leave the court in tears.

“It’s the most horrible thing. I can’t even imagine. I lost my son. I will never get to see my son again, he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison,” Acosta said.

Acosta could face life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors went frame by frame in video to prove he left his truck in drive as his son Abel got out, crept up to the door of a Garland taco shop, and fired 20 shots in nine seconds killing three teens and injuring another.

Video shows the gunman moving in close to shoot a 14-year-old victim at close range before running back into his dad’s truck and speeding away.

Acosta claims he only knew Abel went into the store to confront a teen about his stolen necklace and left after hearing gunshots.

The lead detective testified this shooting was in response to a previous shooting.

Acosta claims he drove his son home, went upstairs and then disappeared.

The jury consists of eight women and four men.

Acosta’s testimony could continue Friday followed by closing arguments.

If convicted of capital murder, 35-year-old Acosta would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In the eight months since Spenser Slavik, 36, was killed, his friend Travis Dehorney still has questions.

“I ask God every day why He sent someone to save me, but I could not save him,” Dehorney said Thursday. “I will miss Spenser until I take my last breath.”

Dehorney spoke before Judge Alex Kim on Thursday, when the judge accepted a plea agreement between the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and the attorneys for now 14-year-old Fabian Adame for Slavik’s murder. Slavik was shot around 7 a.m. on June 22, 2022, during an apparent robbery outside a Kroger grocery store on Camp Bowie West.

Adame, who was 13-years-old at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to 26 years to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) on Thursday.

“It is possible in your case for you to be transferred to the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,” Judge Kim told the teenager. “There is a minimum period of confinement on this for three years. Because of your age, it is possible for you to be released on parole and into the community without seeing me again.”

That decision will be up to the TJJD, Kim said. He warned if Adame’s records indicate he has not been adequately rehabilitated and remains a danger, he will remain in TJJD custody until another hearing before he turns 19.

“If I feel like you have been rehabilitated, it does not matter how serious the offense is. I have released children on parole even on offenses like capital murder because they are no longer a danger,” Kim said. “The ones that continue to be a danger, in my opinion, because they did not take advantage of the services that we are offering, I will happily transfer them to the adult prison system to complete the remainder of your sentence. It’s entirely possible you will be in prison until your 40^th birthday.”

The family of Spenser Slavik was in the courtroom as Kim accepted the deal Thursday. Slavik’s mother Tammy said the past eight months have been painful.

“I cry myself to sleep at night. I can’t find comfort,” Tammy said. “I don’t think the pain’s ever going to go away. I honestly don’t.”

Spenser was the middle child of three siblings. His family lives in Springtown.

“He was a beautiful, beautiful boy. He just genuinely cared and loved people. He didn’t deserve this. By no means,” Tammy said. “I miss his laugh. He had this unique laugh. He had this way about him that was beautiful. I mean, when he walked into a room, it was bigger than life.”

Dehorney met Slavik in 2019 and said knowing him was one of the greatest privileges of his life.

“Spenser is the reason that I stand before all of you today because I was at the doors in the gate of suicide,” he said. “But yet, I met him one day and we were friends.”

Dehorney offered words of grace to Adame’s family, as well.

“You had nothing to do with the taking of his life, but someone you are connected to does. I wish healing upon you,” he said.

Adame’s grandmother Kelly Basham said their family is hurting, as well.

“Anything we say, anything we do is never ever, ever going to be good enough. It’s not going to bring their [Slavik] son back. That pain is very much real. It’s there,” Basham said. “Nothing we say or do is ever going to bring that peace back for them. I hope it brings a little, just to know that we are deeply, deeply sorry.”

Adame’s mother Jessica Norris shared a statement on behalf of her son after court Thursday.

“He’s a very loving kid even though the situation probably don’t seem like it, but he is. He does care. He really does,” Norris said. “He wanted to apologize, but he couldn’t do it in court today.”

Under the agreement, a right to an appeal has been waived. According to county officials, there are currently 14 people within Tarrant County’s juvenile detention center facing murder charges.

Multiple people were injured Thursday night outside of a Miami Gardens restaurant during what witnesses said was a video shoot for rapper French Montana.

Police said an altercation started in a different location and eventually ended at the restaurant, where the shooting happened.

Witness Kayla Sanchez said she drove up to the scene to meet with her boyfriend who was already there after renting his 1985 Chevrolet Caprice for the video shoot.

“I just saw everybody running,” Sanchez said. “He said it was quiet and then all of a sudden 10 shots, 15 shots.”

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue reported 10 people in total were injured, with four taking themselves to the hospital and six being transported by ground and by air. The conditions of those injured was not released but no fatalities have been reported.

Rapper Ced Mogul told NBC 6 he was at the video shoot behind a nearby KFC, where someone was robbed. The shoot then moved to The Licking, where as many as nine people were shot, including rapper Rob49, Mogul said. Police have not confirmed this information.

Ced Mogul shared video that showed French Montana and Rob49 in the backseat of a car during the video shoot and before the shooting.

He also shared video of police and fire rescue helping some of the wounded outside the restaurant.

French Montana released a statement on Twitter Friday about the incident.

“Last night, I was in Miami celebrating the release of my CB6 mixtape w/ friends at a local restaurant. We unfortunately were at the wrong place, at the wrong time when an incident took place that left people hurt. Our thoughts & prayers are w/ the victims & families at this time,” he wrote.

Sanchez returned to the restaurant Friday morning because she said her dog was lost in all the panic. She said the Caprice was taken by investigators.

“The police actually took the car for evidence, they wanted to dust it for fingerprints and see if there was any bullets in it,” she said.

No arrests have been made. The incident remains under investigation and police said they’re seeking more information.

“If anybody was in the area at the moment that this incident occurred, we would like to hear from you, please call Crime Stoppers,” Miami Gardens Det. Diana Gourgue said.

This is a developing story. Check back with NBC 6 for updates.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Ethan Nordyke, 18, was arrested Dec. 20, nearly two weeks after the shooting along the 6500 block of Jerrell Street.

Police said the girl was inside her home when she was struck by gunfire from a passing vehicle. She was taken by her parents to a hospital and was treated for wounds that were not life-threatening. No other injuries were reported.

Nordyke is held in the Tarrant County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with serious bodily injury. Bond was set at $200,000, police said Thursday.

The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing. Anyone that has information that can help police is asked to call 817-427-7030.

It happened in broad daylight shortly after 5 p.m. at a strip shopping center on Scyene Road at St. Augustine Road in Pleasant Grove.

Police said the victims were ages 17, 20, 22, 28, 37 and 55. One was in critical condition; the others had less serious injuries.

At the shopping center, people come and go from a laundry mat and other stores. Jordynn Shaw and her sister tried to visit a beauty store in the center Thursday but it was closed. Blood from the shooting victims was still on the pavement in front of that store.

“That’s just terrible. It’s devastating really,” Shaw said.

Also visiting the shopping center Thursday was Rev. Ronald Wright, a Pleasant Grove community activist and past member of the Dallas Police Oversight Board, which holds police to a high standard.

“The police can’t do their job if we don’t open our mouth and say anything, especially here on this corner,” Wright said.

He said he has seen suspicious characters at the shopping center in the past and businesses share a responsibility to help keep it safe.

“The community needs to wake up and hold our council members accountable, so we can hold our law enforcement accountable, but also hold our businesses accountable,” Wright said.

A corner convenience store at the strip center does have security. A guard was on duty at the store when the shooting occurred Wednesday. A clerk in the store Thursday said police detectives have collected video from the store’s surveillance cameras, which may help solve the crime.

Dallas Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said detectives were reviewing that video for additional clues Thursday, but suspects were publicly identified only as three men in a white car.

“We are going to have bad days, but if you look at the direction we are going, violent crime is down,” Lowman said.

A shooting that a victim survives is considered aggravated assault.

Dallas crime statistics as of Wednesday showed 1,175 fewer aggravated assaults so far in 2022 compared with the year before, a 4% reduction. There were 25 fewer homicides and murders, a reduction of 5.86%. Overall violent crimes against persons citywide were down .87%.

“And the message we continue to send to the public, if you’re seeing something that is happening in your community, call us. You need to report crime, call 911. That’s what’s going to help us make these number even lower and prevent these crimes from happening,” Lowman said.

Wright agreed that cooperation is needed to keep the numbers improving.

“We’ve got to make sure we go forward and not go backward,” he said.

But Jordynn Shaw said she would be afraid to speak out about the bad guys.

“I know some people want to get involved, get crime out of the way but I just wouldn’t want to put myself in that position,” she said.

In some parts of Dallas, it is still tough to make people feel comfortable challenging criminals.

Anyone with information who is willing to help can contact Det. Justin Barger at 214-671-4264 or email justin.barger@dallaspolice.gov.

And there is extra incentive to do so. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for tips that lead to an arrest and indictment. Tips can also be sent to 214-373-8477.

It happened around 6 p.m. on Dec. 24 at an apartment complex in the 2900 block of Alouette Drive. When officers arrived they found a maintenance worker on a resident’s balcony with an apparent gunshot wound.

The victim, 53-year-old Cesar Montelongo, was rushed to a local hospital where he later died.

“As far as we know my dad was just responding to work orders because at his apartment complex he was on call,” said Cesar Montelongo Jr.

The resident, who believed his apartment was being burglarized, grabbed a gun and Montelongo through a window, according to police.

“All I know is that my dad was working on fixing leaking pipes and he was doing his work on the outside and being outside the window,” said Montelongo Jr. “My dad wasn’t trying to break in. He was just looking for leaking pipes.”

“I saw him that afternoon,” said apartment complex resident Jose Dominguez.

Dominguez tells NBC 5 he has known Montelongo for about 30 years and noticed he was dressed up as if attending church service on Christmas Eve.

“I was surprised because he was here at work,” he said. “I asked him: What are you doing here? This is Christmas [Eve]. He told me, we have some problems we have to resolve and fix. That’s why I’m here and I told him: Well, that’s bad luck.”

Grand Prairie Police say several waterlines had ruptured in the frigid weather at around 6 p.m. Saturday. The longtime maintenance worker had been called in and was checking several balconies for more ruptures.

Montelongo’s son said his dad was well-known among the residents.

“He was very humble, all of his residents knew him and he knew all of his residents,” he said.

The resident remained at the scene and is cooperating with detectives. At this time, no arrest has been made.

“I want justice to be served. I forgive him. I hope the Lord forgives him. But justice is justice and fair is fair,” said Montelongo Jr.

NBC 5 asked defense attorney and former prosecutor Russell Wilson for insight on possible legal questions that could be applied in this case.

Wilson is not associated with the case.

“[It’s] certainly a sad and tragic situation,” said Wilson. “One is, did the apartments notify the apartment owners that they were going to be having individuals on their balconies? And two, what’s the location of the pipes? Has this type of incident, the repair of the pipes, occurred before? And, has it always been done in that way?”

Wilson says the Castle Doctrine could be applied in the case. It allows homeowners to defend their property, which extends to their balconies, against ‘an anticipated burglary,’ said Wilson.

Homeowners are not required to retreat in their own homes, he said.

“For example, if somebody’s home was about to be broken into, they’re not necessarily required to let the person come into their home before they’re defending themselves. Obviously, this is something that I think is unfolding very quickly and there’s likely to be some scrutiny about other alternatives that might have been available,” said Wilson. “The biggest question is, the notice to the homeowner prior to the shooting incident, I think would play a very big role.”

Wilson believes detectives will likely investigate the tenant and whet

Grand Prairie detectives will refer the case to a Tarrant County Grand Jury for review.

Montelongo would have celebrated his 29th wedding anniversary on Christmas Day. He leaves behind a wife and five sons.

Montelongo’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral services. To help, click here.

Weatherford Police released a preliminary briefing video on Tuesday with details of the incident.

On Dec. 24 around 8 a.m., Weatherford police were called to a report of a stolen vehicle that was taken at gunpoint on Dec. 23 in Georgia and had been tracked to an address on York Avenue, according to the police.

Responding officers located the vehicle around 8:30 a.m. and attempted to make contact when the pursuit ensued, police said.

During the pursuit, the driver of the vehicle crashed into an uninvolved vehicle at the Ric Williamson Memorial Highway and Highway 180 intersection just outside of Weatherford.

According to police, the alleged stolen vehicle came to a rest and the driver exited the vehicle opening fire on officers and troopers, striking some of the patrol cars.

The suspect ran into a nearby field while continuing to shoot over 25 rounds at officers, according to police.

Officers returned fire striking the suspect multiple times.

The suspect was treated for his injuries but later died at the scene. A handgun was located near the suspect, according to police.

The suspect was identified as 32-year-old Michael Delaney of Minnesota who was a person of interest in a homicide on Dec. 12 in Michigan and the armed hijacking in Georgia, according to officials.

No officers were injured during the incident.

The Texas Rangers are now investigating the incident and further details will be released.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas James made his first public comments on the shooting in a statement issued through Centura Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, where James is recovering from undisclosed injuries suffered during the attack.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said that James was one of two men who helped to stop the shooter who walked into Club Q late on Nov. 19 with multiple firearms, including a semiautomatic rifle, and killed five people. At least 17 others were injured when a drag queen’s birthday celebration turned into a massacre.

James reportedly pushed a rifle out of the shooter’s reach while Army veteran Rich Fierro repeatedly struck the shooter with a handgun the shooter brought into the bar, officials have said.

“If I had my way, I would shield everyone I could from the nonsensical acts of hate in the world, but I am only one person,” James said in a statement. “Thankfully, we are a family and family looks after one another.”

Patrons of Club Q have said the bar offered them a community where they felt celebrated, but that the shooting shook their sense of safety.

“I want to support everyone who has known the pain and loss that have been all too common these past few years,” James said. “My thoughts are with those we lost on Nov. 19, and those who are still recovering from their injuries.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the United States, appeared on two Sunday morning TV shows saying he would support increasing licensing requirements for semiautomatic weapons, improving mental health services and better use of red flag laws that allow courts to remove weapons from people having mental health crises and who may be a danger to themselves and others. He also urged the toning down of anti-LGBTQ political rhetoric.

“We know that when people are saying incendiary things, somebody who’s not well-balanced can hear those things, and think that what they’re doing is heroic when it’s actually a horrific crime that kills innocent people,” Polis said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’

James ended the statement by urging young members of the LGBTQ community to be brave.

“Your family is out there. You are loved and valued,” James said. “So when you come out of the closet, come out swinging.”

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Nic Grzecka’s voice was tinged with exhaustion as he spoke with The Associated Press on Wednesday night in some of his first comments since Saturday night’s attack at Club Q, a venue Grzecka helped build into an enclave that sustained the LGBTQ community in conservative-leaning Colorado Springs.

Authorities haven’t said why the suspect opened fire at the club before being subdued into submission by patrons, but they are facing hate crime charges. The suspect has not entered a plea or spoken about the incident.

Grzecka said he believes the targeting of a drag queen event is connected to the art form being cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the “sexualization” or “grooming” of children. Even though general acceptance of the LGBTQ community has grown, this new dynamic has fostered a dangerous climate.

“It’s different to walk down the street holding my boyfriend’s hand and getting spit at (as opposed to) a politician relating a drag queen to a groomer of their children,” Grzecka said. “I would rather be spit on in the street than the hate get as bad as where we are today.”

Earlier this year, Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature passed a bill barring teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with younger students. A month later, references to “pedophiles” and “grooming” in relation to LGBTQ people rose 400%, according to a report by the Human Rights Campaign.

“Lying about our community, and making them into something they are not, creates a different type of hate,” said Grzecka.

Grzecka, who started mopping floors and bartending at Club Q in 2003 a year after it opened, said he hopes to channel his grief and anger into figuring out how to rebuild the support system for Colorado Springs’ LGBTQ community that only Club Q had provided.

City and state officials have offered support and President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden reached out to Grzecka and co-owner Matthew Haynes on Thursday to offer condolences and reiterate their support for the community as well as their commitment to fighting back against hate and gun violence.

Grzecka said Club Q opened after the only other gay bar in Colorado Springs at that time shuttered. He described that era as an evolution of gay bars. Decades ago, dingy, hole-in-the-wall gay venues were meant largely for finding a hookup or date, said Grzecka. But he said once the internet offered anonymous ways to find love online, the bars transitioned into well lit, clean non-smoking spaces to hang out with friends. Club Q was at the vanguard of that transition.

Once he became co-owner in 2014, Grzecka helped mold Club Q into not merely a nightlife venue but a community center – a platform to create a “chosen family” for LGBTQ people, especially for those estranged from their birth family. Drag queen bingo nights, friendsgiving and Christmas dinners, birthday celebrations became staples of Club Q which was open 365 days a year.

In the aftermath of the shooting, with that community center having been torn away, Grzecka and other community leaders said they are channeling grief and anger into reconstituting the support structure that only Club Q had offered.

“When that system goes away, you realize how much more the bar was really providing,” said Justin Burn, an organizer with Pikes Peak Pride. “Those that may or may not have been a part of the Club Q family, where do they go?”

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Burn said the shooting pulled back a curtain on a broader lack of resources for LGBTQ adults in Colorado Springs. Burn, Grzecka and others are working with national organizations to do an assessment of the community’s need as they develop a blueprint to offer a robust support network.

Grzecka is looking to rebuild the “loving culture” and necessary support to “make sure that this tragedy is turned into the best thing it can be for the city.”

“Everybody needs community,” he said.

The indictments of former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould were returned Wednesday, five months after Christian Glass was killed by law enforcement. The case has become a flashpoint amid a national outcry for police reforms focused on crisis intervention and de-escalation.

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Charges against the two deputies include second-degree murder, official misconduct, and criminally negligent homicide, according to the court records, which did not provide further details.

The records did not list a lawyer for either deputy. A telephone message left at a number believed to be Buen’s was not immediately returned. No telephone listing could be found for Gould.

A federal judge issued warrants for both Buen and Gould, who face bonds of $50,000 and $2,500 respectively, according to a press release from Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum, who empaneled the grand jury.

Nichole Lentz, spokesperson for the Clear Creek County Sheriff, said in a statement that both officers have been terminated following the indictments.

The sheriff office’s ongoing internal investigation found “policy and procedural failures,” Lentz said, adding that the office’s initial news release following the shooting “does not reflect the entirety of what happened on that terrible night.”

Late on June 10, Glass called the police because his car had become stuck on an embankment. Body camera videos show Glass refusing to get out of his car while telling police he is “terrified” and making heart shapes with his hands to officers.

Officers talked to him to try to persuade him to leave the car. After more than an hour of negotiations, police said Glass was being uncooperative and they broke the passenger window and removed a knife from the vehicle.

Glass offered to throw two knives out of the window but the video shows officers telling him not to.

Once the window was shattered, Glass seemed to panic and grabbed a second knife. Police then shot Glass with bean bag rounds and shocked him with a stun gun. The footage shows Glass twisting in his seat and thrusting a knife toward an officer who approaches the rear driver window. Then another officer fired his gun, hitting Glass six times, according to the autopsy report.

During a September news conference, Glass’s mother, Sally Glass, said her son suffered from depression, had recently been diagnosed with ADHD and was “having a mental health episode” and was “petrified” the night he was killed.

Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

The fatal shooting occurred Tuesday evening at about 10:15 p.m. ET at Chesapeake’s Walmart on Sam’s Circle. The Walmart was open to the public at the time when the shooting occurred just two days before Thanksgiving as customers were doing last-minute shopping during a busy holiday week.

Officials identified the victims as Lorenzo Gamble, Brian Pendleton, Kellie Pyle, Randy Blevins, and Tyneka Johnson. The sixth victim is a minor so his name is being withheld, the city of Chesapeake said in a statement.

These are the victims:

Fernando “Jesus” Chavez-Barron, 16

Chavez-Barron was an honors student in the 11th grade who had just begun driving and had taken a part-time job to help out his family, according to friends and a GoFundMe page set up for the family. The page’s organizer, Tamara Nelson, confirmed by phone that the page was authentic, but she declined to comment further.

“An outstanding son and excellent big brother, he loved building with Legos,” the GoFundMe page states. “He will always be remembered as humble, loving, responsible and hardworking young man. His loss is felt, not only by his family, but by so many others in his community.”

Family friend Rosy Perez told The New York Times that the teen worked the overnight shift at Walmart to assist his family.

“He wanted to help a little bit,” Perez said. “He was a very good child.”

Lorenzo Gamble, 43

Gamble was a custodian on the overnight shift and had worked at Walmart for 15 years, The Washington Post reported.

His parents Linda and Alonzo Gamble said he loved spending time with his two sons.

“He just kept to himself and did his job,” Linda Gamble said. “He was the quiet one of the family.”

His mother said Gamble enjoyed going to his 19-year-old’s football games and cheering for the Washington Commanders NFL team.

She posted on Facebook that she’s having trouble saying goodbye.

“Missing my baby right now, life is not same without my son,” she wrote.

Brian Pendleton, 38

Pendleton made sure to be punctual. Although his shift as a custodian started at 10:30 p.m., he was in the break room when the shooting started just after 10, according to his mother, Michelle Johnson.

“He always came to work early so he would be on time for work,” she told The Associated Press Wednesday. “He liked his coworkers.”

Pendleton had recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary working at the store.

His mother said he didn’t have any problems at work, except with a supervisor, Andre Bing, who was identified as the gunman.

“He just didn’t like my son,” Johnson said. “He would tell me that he (Bing) would give him a hard time.”

Pendleton was born with a congenital brain disorder and grew up in Chesapeake, his mother said.

“He called me yesterday before he was going to work,” Johnson said. “I always tell him to call me when gets off work.”

As she was getting ready for bed, Johnson got a call from a family friend telling her there was a shooting at the Walmart.

“Brian was a happy-go-lucky guy. Brian loved family. Brian loved friends. He loved to tell jokes,” his mother said. “We’re going to miss him.”

Kellie Pyle, 52

Pyle grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, and moved back to the Hampton Roads region from Kentucky after reconnecting with her high school sweetheart on Facebook.

She and Brian Baker planned to marry next year.

“I’ve never seen her this happy, except when she talked about her children,” said a cousin, William Pillar-Gibson.

“This was not just a new chapter for her — it was the best chapter,” Pillar-Gibson told the AP. “She was a grandmother. Her children were thriving. She was with the love of her life. She was back home.”

Pyle had two adult children in their 20s and a young granddaughter who was “the light of Kellie’s life,” her cousin said.

Pyle had been the caregiver for her parents when their health failed and for her brother when he had a stroke.

“She handled everything,” Pillar-Gibson said. “When something needed to be done, she did it. And she experienced a lot of loss.”

Recently, Pyle was extending her generosity and caregiving to the mother of her fiance, Gwendolyn Bowe Baker Spencer.

In a brief statement to the AP, Spencer said: “We love her … She was an awesome, kind individual — yes she was.”

Randy Blevins, 70

Blevins started working for Walmart in the early 1990s after the five-and-dime he owned with his wife, Teresa, went under, his stepdaughter Cassandra Yeatts told The Associated Press.

“When Walmart came to town, they kind of drove their business out of business,” Yeatts said. “My mom contacted the manager of the Walmart at Sam’s Drive and said, ‘Hey, you put us out of business and my husband needs a job.’”

Blevins had an interview and got hired on the spot as an overnight stocker, a job that included unloading trucks, Yeatts said.

He liked the third shift because he had the days to himself. He attended Norfolk Admirals hockey games and watched professional wrestling and Washington Commanders football games on TV.

Blevins also took snapshots of people and places in nearby Isle of Wight County, according to a 1996 story in the Isle of Wight Citizen. The pictures were put on postcards and sold at a different five-and-dime that his brother managed.

Blevins never missed a day of work, his stepdaughter said.

“He never had any complaints about anyone that he worked with, and he enjoyed going into work,” Yeatts said.

Blevins leaves behind three stepdaughters. And although he and his wife Teresa Blevins divorced, they remained best friends, Yeatts said.

“Thanksgiving and Christmas were his favorite holidays,” she said.

Tyneka Johnson, 22

Theodore Johnson, 41, told The New York Times that his cousin lived with her mother.

“She was young and wanted to make her own money,” he said.

When Johnson attended Western Branch High School, Casheba Cannon tutored the student with dreams of college and a supportive family, Cannon told The Washington Post.

“Education was in the forefront. Her family did whatever they had to do to make sure she got assistance,” Cannon said.

Johnson was willing to work to better herself, but she was also cheerful, helped younger students and “gelled” with everyone she encountered at Cannon’s Blessed Tutoring Services, she said. Johnson had a sense of style and love for music and dancing.

“She was that kid. When she came to tutoring, she was very well put together,” Cannon said. “Tyneka was a light in a dim room.”

A makeshift memorial to Johnson was placed in a grassy area outside the Walmart, with the words “Our Hearts are with you” and a basket of flowers.

The remembrance included a cluster of blue, white and gold balloons tied to a tree, alongside a stark yellow line of police tape.

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The suspect could be seen slumped over in a chair with injuries visible on the suspect’s face and head in a brief video appearance from jail. The suspect appeared to need prompting by defense attorneys and offered a slurred response when asked to state their name by El Paso County Court Judge Charlotte Ankeny.

The suspect was beaten into submission by patrons during Saturday night’s shooting at Club Q and released from the hospital Tuesday. The motive in the shooting was still under investigation, but authorities said he faces possible murder and hate crime charges.

Hate crime charges would require proving that the shooter was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The charges against the suspect are preliminary, and prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges. The suspect is represented by Joseph Archambault, a chief trial deputy with the state public defender’s office. Lawyers from the office do not comment on cases to the media.

Defense attorneys said late Tuesday that the suspect is nonbinary. The attorneys’ footnotes assert that the suspect is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.

Court documents laying out the suspect’s arrest were sealed at the request of prosecutors.

Local and federal authorities have declined to answer questions about why hate crime charges were being considered. District Attorney Michael Allen noted that the murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — life in prison — whereas bias crimes are eligible for probation. He also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated.

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The weekend assault took place at a nightclub known as a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in this mostly conservative city of about 480,000 about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Denver.

A longtime Club Q patron who was shot said the club’s reputation made it a target. In a video statement, Ed Sanders said he thought about what he would do in a mass shooting after the 2016 massacre of 49 people at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

“I think this incident underlines the fact that LGBT people need to be loved,” said Sanders, 63. “I want to be resilient. I’m a survivor. I’m not going to be taken out by some sick person.”

Authorities said the suspect used a long rifle and was halted by two club patrons including Richard Fierro, who told reporters that he took a handgun from the suspect, hit them with it and pinned them down with help from another person until police arrived.

The victims were Raymond Green Vance, 22, a Colorado Springs native who was saving money to get his own apartment; Ashley Paugh, 35, a mother who helped find homes for foster children; Daniel Aston, 28, who had worked at the club as a bartender and entertainer; Kelly Loving, 40, whose sister described her as “caring and sweet”; and Derrick Rump, 38, another club bartender known for his wit.

The suspect is identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22.

Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Associated Press reporters Bernard Condon in New York, Jake Bleiberg in Dallas, Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento, Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles and news researcher Rhonda Shafner from New York contributed.

They are some of the 17 people wounded by gunfire Saturday when a 22-year-old man went on a shooting rampage at Club Q, a well-known club for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs. On Tuesday, they shared the horror of seeing their loved ones shot down in front of them, as well as the hope they felt as people helped each other in the chaos.

Ed Sanders, 63, said he had been waiting in line at the bar, had made his way up to the front and given the bartender his credit card when he was hit in the back — right between the shoulder blades. Surprised, he turned to look at the gunman, only to be hit again in the thigh as another volley of shots were fired.

“I fell. And everybody fell,” Sanders said in video statements released Tuesday by UCHealth Memorial Hospital Center. “It was very traumatic. I shielded another woman with my coat … there was a lot of chaos.”

James Slaugh said he, his boyfriend and his sister were getting ready to leave the club when, “all of a sudden we just hear, ‘pop, pop, pop.’ As I turn, I took a bullet in my arm from the back.”

Slaugh, who spoke to The Associated Press from his hospital bed, said he watched others around him fall — including his boyfriend, who was shot in the leg, and his sister, who had bullet wounds in 13 places. He quickly called the police, heard several more shots, then nothing. The scariest part of the shooting, he said, was not knowing whether the gunman would fire again.

Five people were killed in the shooting, which stopped after the gunman was disarmed by patrons.

The motive for the attack is still being investigated and the man has not been formally charged. Police say he was armed with multiple firearms, including an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, and possible hate crimes are being considered.

“I want to be resilient. I’m a survivor,” Sanders said. “I’m not going to be taken out by some sick person.”

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Sanders has been a patron of Club Q for 20 years and even went to the club’s opening night decades ago. He wore a hospital gown and had an oxygen tube in his nose in the video recorded by the hospital.

He said that after the 2016 Pulse gay nightclub shooting in Florida, which killed 49 people, Sanders thought about what he would do if something similar happened at Club Q — but he never dreamed it would become reality.

“I’m smiling now because I am happy to be alive,” Sanders said. “I dodged a major event in my life and came through it, and that’s part of who I am as a survivor.”

Sanders knew many of the victims, including the “door lady” and two bartenders who died. Sanders said that after the shooting, people who weren’t hit were helping each other “just like a family would do.”

Sanders said the shot to his back missed vital organs but broke a rib. He said he now has a concave wound in his back and will need skin grafts. Sanders was also shot in the thigh, and said “that was the most blood.”

“I think this incident underlines the fact that LGBT people need to be loved,” Sanders said.

For Slaugh, Club Q was a place where he felt safe after coming out as gay at age 24. It was where he met his partner, Jancarlos Del Valle, eight months ago, and it was where they took his sister, Charlene, on Saturday night to cheer her up from a recent breakup, as well as the death of their mother from COVID-19 a year ago.

Slaugh said that after the gunman was subdued, the club instantly became a community again. Patrons grabbed paper towels to try to stop bleeding wounds. One man told Slaugh he would be OK and kissed him on the forehead.

“That was such a reassurance to me,” he said. “That hope stayed there.”

Del Valle and James were rushed to one hospital and Charlene, who had more extensive injuries, was taken to another. James said he did not find out what happened to his sister until the next day. A community of support has formed around the Slaughs, including a GoFundMe campaign to pay for medical bills. Messages have poured in from around the world.

“Being shot, being a victim of this whole thing — it left me with a sense of more hope than anything else, especially with everyone coming together,” he said. “This is not a time to be afraid. This is not a time to let in one awful person. This is a time to come together.”

First he dove to duck any potential incoming fire, and then he moved to try to disarm the shooter.

“It’s the reflex. Go! Go to the fire. Stop the action. Stop the activity. Don’t let no one get hurt. I tried to bring everybody back,” he said Monday outside his home.

Fierro is one of two men police are crediting with saving lives by subduing a 22-year-old gunman who went on a shooting rampage Saturday night at Club Q, a well-known gathering place for the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs.

Fierro was there with his daughter Kassy, her boyfriend and several other friends to see a drag show and celebrate a birthday. He said it was one of the group’s most enjoyable nights, until the shooting started.

“I just know I got into mode, and I needed to save my family — and my family was at that time everybody in that room,” he said.

Fierro told reporters that once his instincts kicked in, he and another man approached the shooter. He grabbed the attacker’s body armor and began punching him while the other man, Thomas James, began kicking him. The suspect reached for a handgun, but Fierro grabbed it from him. He also told James to kick away the shooter’s AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle.

When a performer who was there for the drag show ran by, Fierro told them to kick the gunman. The performer stuffed a high-heeled shoe in the attacker’s face and also tried to subdue him, Fierro said.

“I love them,” Fierro said of the city’s LGBTQ community. “I have nothing but love.”

Fierro and James, about whom little was known as of Monday evening, pinned the shooter down until officers arrived minutes later.

Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez said Monday that Fierro acted courageously.

“I have never encountered a person who had engaged in such heroic actions who was so humble about it,” Vasquez said. “He simply said to me, ‘I was trying to protect my family.’”

Fierro served in the military for 15 years, doing tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, before leaving as a major. He said saving lives is “what I was trained to do.”

“I didn’t ask for this,” he said, adding he was there to watch his daughter’s junior prom date perform. “I’m not a hero, I’m just some dude,” he said.

The mass shooting left five dead and at least 17 wounded by gunfire. The suspect, who was said to be carrying multiple guns and additional ammunition magazines, faces murder and hate crime charges.

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Fierro’s wife, Jess, said via Facebook that her husband had bruised his right side and injured his hands, knees and ankle. “He was covered in blood,” she wrote on the page of their brewery, Atrevida Beer Co.

Though his actions saved lives, Fierro said the five deaths — including his daughter’s boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance — were a tragedy both personal and for the broader community.

“There are five people that I could not help. And one of which was family to me,” he said, as his brother put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

Fierro said he doesn’t remember if the gunman responded as he yelled and struggled to subdue him, but he has thought about their next interaction.

“I’m gonna see that guy in court,” Fierro said. “And that guy’s gonna see who did him.”

Source: The Gun Violence Archive
Amy O’Kruk/NBC

Metz reported from Salt Lake City. Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed.

Club regulars and newcomers — gay and straight, transgender and cisgender — flocked to Club Q over the weekend to dance, enjoy a comedy show or work behind the bar. What began as a typical Saturday evening of dancing and drinking at the preeminent LGBTQ establishment in the conservative-leaning Colorado city south of Denver ended in tragedy when a gunman entered and began spraying bullets before he was tackled and subdued.

In the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, Club Q has long been a go-to spot for members of the LGBTQ+ community — a safe space where many felt they could just be themselves. But that was shattered this weekend.

The Colorado Springs Police Department also identified Thomas James and Richard Fierro as the two civilians “whose heroic actions stopped the suspect and saved lives.”

These are the victims:

Daniel Aston

Daniel Aston, 28, grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moved to be closer to family in Colorado Springs two years ago. He worked as a bartender and entertainer at Club Q and cherished the venue as a sanctuary where as a transgender man he could be himself and perform to a lauding audience, his mother Sabrina Aston told The Associated Press.

The self-proclaimed “Master of Silly Business,” Aston had a propensity for making others laugh that started as a child when he would don elaborate costumes and write plays acted out by neighborhood kids. In college, where he was president of his school’s LGBTQ club, he put on fundraisers with ever-more flashy productions.

″(Daniel’s shows) are great. Everybody needs to go see him,” his mother said. “He lit up a room, always smiling, always happy and silly,” she said.

Derrick Rump

Derrick Rump, 38, a bartender at Club Q, was remembered as a loving person with a quick wit who adopted his friends as his family.

His mother, Julia Thames, said in a statement that Rump was “a kind loving person who had a heart of gold.”

“He was always there for my daughter and myself when we needed him; also his friends from Colorado, which he would say was his family also,” she said in the statement.

Rump’s friend, Anthony Jaramillo, told CBS News that Rump was “loving, supportive, with a heavy hand in his drink pouring, and just a really good listener and would not be afraid to tell you when you were wrong instead of telling you what you wanted to hear and that was really valuable.”

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Kelly Loving

Kelly Loving, 40, had been talking to a friend on a FaceTime call from inside Club Q just minutes before the shooting started. Natalee Skye Bingham told The New York Times that the last thing she said to Loving was: “Be safe. I love you.”

“She was like a trans mother to me. I looked up to her,” Bingham said. “In the gay community you create your families, so it’s like I lost my real mother almost.”

Bingham, 25, said Loving, had only recently moved to Denver and was visiting the club while on a weekend trip to Colorado Springs.

“She was a tough woman,” Bingham said. “She taught me how it was to be a trans woman and live your life day to day.”

Loving’s sister, Tiffany Loving, told the newspaper that the FBI told her that her sister had been killed.

“She was loving, always trying to help the next person out instead of thinking of herself,” Tiffany Loving said.

“My condolences go out to all the families who lost someone in this tragic event, and to everyone struggling to be accepted in this world. My sister was a good person. She was loving and caring and sweet. Everyone loved her,” Tiffany Loving added in a separate statement released by the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Raymond Green Vance

Raymond Green Vance went to Club Q on Saturday night with his girlfriend, Kassy Fierro, and her father, Rich, the co-owner of Atrevida Beer Co., a local brewery in Colorado Springs. The group was there to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

“My sweet baby. ill never be able to heal from this. i want to wake up from this horrendous nightmare. i pray u hear me when i call for you. im so sorry. ill never forgive myself for taking everyone there. i will love you til the day i get to come back home to your arms,” Kassy Fierro wrote in a Facebook post Monday accompanied by a photo of the couple.

Vance’s mother confirmed her son’s death to The Colorado Springs Gazette.

Ashley Paugh

Ashley Paugh, 35, enjoyed hunting and fishing and just shot a deer last week, her sister Stephanie Clark told NBC News. A resident of La Junta, a 7,500-person town about a two-hour’s drive from Colorado Springs, Paugh was visiting for the day with a friend when they went to Club Q on Saturday night for a comedy act.

Clark said Paugh had a husband and an 11-year-old daughter, who is “devastated” by her death. It left the family reeling just days before Thanksgiving.

Associated Press News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York and reporter Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed to this report. Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Yet despite that scare, there’s no record prosecutors ever moved forward with felony kidnapping and menacing charges against him, or that police or relatives tried to trigger Colorado’s “red flag” law that would have allowed authorities to seize the weapons and ammo the man’s mother says he had with him.

Gun control advocates say the June 2021 threat is an example of a red flag law ignored, with potentially deadly consequences. While it’s not clear the law could have prevented Saturday night’s attack — such gun seizures can be in effect for as little as 14 days and be extended by a judge in six-month increments — they say it could have at least slowed him and raised his profile with law enforcement.

“We need heroes beforehand — parents, co-workers, friends who are seeing someone go down this path,” said Colorado state Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting and sponsored the state’s red flag law passed in 2019. “This should have alerted them, put him on their radar.”

But the law that allows guns to be removed from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others has seldom been used in the state, particularly in El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, where the 22-year-old suspected gunman allegedly went into Club Q with a long gun at just before midnight and opened fire before he was subdued by patrons.

An Associated Press analysis found Colorado has one of the lowest rates of red flag usage despite widespread gun ownership and several high-profile mass shootings.

Courts issued 151 gun surrender orders from when the law took effect in April 2019 through 2021, three surrender orders for every 100,000 adults in the state. That’s a third of the ratio of orders issued for the 19 states and District of Columbia with surrender laws on their books.

El Paso County appears especially hostile to the law. It joined nearly 2,000 counties nationwide in declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” that protect the constitutional right to bear arms, passing a 2019 resolution that says the red flag law “infringes upon the inalienable rights of law-abiding citizens” by ordering police to “forcibly enter premises and seize a citizen’s property with no evidence of a crime.”

County Sheriff Bill Elder has said his office would wait for family members to ask a court for surrender orders and not petition for them on its own accord, unless there were “exigent circumstances” and “probable cause” of a crime.

El Paso County, with a population of 730,000, had 13 temporary firearm removals through the end of last year, four of which turned into longer ones of at least six months.

The county sheriff’s office declined to answer what happened after the suspect’s arrest last year, including whether anyone asked to have his weapons removed. The press release issued by the sheriff’s office at the time said no explosives were found but did not mention anything about whether any weapons were recovered.

Spokesperson Lt. Deborah Mynatt referred further questions about the case to the district attorney’s office.

An online court records search did not turn up any formal charges filed against the suspect in last year’s case. And in an update on a story on the bomb threat, The Gazette newspaper of Colorado Springs reported that prosecutors did not pursue any charges in the case and that records were sealed.

The Gazette also reported Sunday that it got a call from the suspect in August asking that it remove a story about the incident.

“There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” the suspected gunman said in a voice message to an editor. “The entire case was dismissed.”

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, Howard Black, declined to comment on whether any charges were pursued. He said the shooting investigation will also include a study of the bomb threat.

“There will be no additional information released at this time,” Black said. “These are still investigative questions.”

AP’s study of 19 states and the District of Columbia with red flag laws on their books found they have been used about 15,000 times since 2020, less than 10 times for every 100,000 adults in each state. Experts called that woefully low and hardly enough to make a dent in gun killings.

Just this year, authorities in Highland Park, Illinois, were criticized for not trying to take guns away from the 21-year-old accused of a Fourth of July parade shooting that left seven dead. Police had been alerted about him in 2019 after he threatened to “kill everyone” in his home.

Duke University sociologist Jeffrey Swanson, an expert in red flag laws, said the Colorado Springs case could be yet another missed warning sign.

“This seems like a no brainer, if the mom knew he had guns,” he said. “If you removed firearms from the situation, you could have had a different ending to the story.”

Condon reported from New York.

The suspect used an AR-15-style semiautomatic weapon in the Saturday night shooting at Club Q, a law enforcement official said. A handgun and additional ammunition magazines also were recovered, according to the official, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

On its Facebook page, the club called it a “hate attack.” Investigators were still determining a motive and whether to prosecute it as a hate crime, said El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen. Charges against the suspect “will likely include first-degree murder,” he said.

The attack ended when someone grabbed a handgun from the gunman and hit him with it, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told The New York Times. The person who hit the gunman had him pinned down when police arrived.

Suthers said the club had operated for 21 years and had not reported any threats before Saturday’s attack.

Authorities were called to Club Q at 11:57 p.m. Saturday with a report of a shooting, and the first officer arrived at midnight.

Joshua Thurman said he was in the club with about two dozen other people and was dancing when the shots began. He initially thought it was part of the music, until he heard another shot and said he saw the flash of a gun muzzle.

Thurman, 34, said he ran with another person to a dressing room where someone already was hiding. They locked the door, turned off the lights and got on the floor but could hear the violence unfolding, including the gunman getting beaten up, he added.

“I could have lost my life — over what? What was the purpose?” he said as tears ran down his cheeks. “We were just enjoying ourselves. We weren’t out harming anyone. We were in our space, our community, our home, enjoying ourselves like everybody else does.”

The gunman was confronted by “at least two heroic people” who fought and subdued the suspect, said Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.

“We owe them a great debt of thanks,” he added. Detectives also were examining whether anyone had helped the gunman before the attack, Vasquez said.

Police did not give further details on the other guns found at the scene.

Of the 25 injured, at least seven were in critical condition, authorities said. Some were hurt trying to flee, and it was unclear if all of the victims were shot, a police spokesperson said.

The shooting rekindled memories of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. Colorado has experienced several mass killings, including at Columbine High School in 1999, a movie theater in suburban Denver in 2012 and at a Boulder supermarket last year.

It was the sixth mass killing this month and came in a year when the nation was shaken by the deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Club Q is a gay and lesbian nightclub that features a drag show on Saturdays, according to its website. Club Q’s Facebook page said planned entertainment included a “punk and alternative show” preceding a birthday dance party, with a Sunday all-ages drag brunch.

Drag events have become a focus of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and protests recently as opponents, including politicians, have proposed banning children from them, falsely claiming they're used to “groom” children.

Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting and the FBI was assisting police with the investigation.

To substantiate a hate-crime charge against the gunman, prosecutors would have to prove he was motivated by the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. So far, the suspect has not been cooperative in interviews with investigators and has not given them clear insight yet about the motivation for the attack, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Joe Biden said that while the motive for the shootings was not yet clear, “we know that the LGBTQI+ community has been subjected to horrific hate violence in recent years.”

“Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence,” he said. “We cannot and must not tolerate hate.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected governor in 2018, called the shooting “sickening.”

“My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured and traumatized,” Polis said. “Colorado stands with our LGTBQ community and everyone impacted by this tragedy as we mourn.”

A makeshift memorial sprang up Sunday near the club, with flowers, a stuffed animal and candles and a sign saying “Love over hate” next to a rainbow-colored heart.

Seth Stang was buying flowers for the memorial when he was told that two of the dead were his friends. The 34-year-old transgender man said it was like having “a bucket of hot water getting dumped on you. ... I’m just tired of running out of places where we can exist safely.”

Ryan Johnson, who lives near the club and was there last month, said it was one of only two nightspots for the LGBTQ community in conservative-leaning Colorado Springs. “It’s kind of the go-to for pride,” the 26-year-old said of the club, which is tucked behind other businesses, including a bowling alley and a sandwich shop.

Colorado Springs, a city of about 480,000 located 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Denver, is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Olympic Training Center, as well as Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical Christian ministry that lobbies against LGBTQ rights. The group condemned the shooting and said it “exposes the evil and wickedness inside the human heart.”

In November 2015, three people were killed and eight wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the city when authorities say a gunman targeted the clinic because it performed abortions.

“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the club posted on Facebook. “We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”

The CEO of a national LGBTQ-rights organization, Kevin Jennings of Lambda Legal, pleaded for tighter restrictions on guns.

“America’s toxic mix of bigotry and absurdly easy access to firearms means that such events are all too common and LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC communities, the Jewish community and other vulnerable populations pay the price again and again for our political leadership’s failure to act,” he said in a statement.

The shooting came during Transgender Awareness Week and just at the start of Sunday’s International Transgender Day of Remembrance, when events around the world are held to mourn and remember transgender people lost to violence.

In June, 31 members of the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front were arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and charged with conspiracy to riot at a Pride event. Experts warned that extremist groups could see anti-gay rhetoric as a call to action.

The previous month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government, which lined up with similar sermons from a Texas fundamentalist pastor.

Since 2006, there have been 523 mass killings and 2,727 deaths as of Nov. 19, according to The Associated Press/USA Today database on mass killings in the U.S.

Police identified the suspected gunman as Anderson Lee Aldrich, who was in custody and being treated for injuries.

Associated Press reporters Colleen Slevin in Denver, Michael Balsamo in Washington, Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Jeff McMillan in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed.

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“We’re just trying to get through it. We were told that Junior might not be able to walk. He doesn’t feel from his waist down,” said Brillith Sanchez.

Last Saturday, Sanchez said Junior and his 14-year-old sister Leslie were with their aunt and cousin on their way to a party near Northwest Centre Drive and Buda Lane when two men they didn’t recognize opened fire.

“It was a nightmare, sitting at home, getting a call from my daughter saying that they had got shot at,” she said.

She said the children’s aunt managed to drive them to a safe location about a mile away where they could call an ambulance, even after she was shot in the arm.

Sanchez said Leslie suffered gunshot wounds to both legs and is now recovering at home. But for Junior, recovery could take months or even a year after one of those bullets struck his spinal cord.

Saturday, she said they found a glimmer of hope when he managed to move his toes.

“He’s staying positive. He’s a strong kid. He’s a very strong kid. He’s staying positive. He’s determined. He’s said that he’s not giving up,” said Sanchez.

Fort Worth Police said they’ve arrested 17-year-old Ray’lon Meredith for seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon along with one for unlawful carry.

A spokesperson said the investigation remains ongoing and that additional arrests could follow.

Sanchez believes that her kids were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I just want to know why? Why? What happened? Why? That makes no sense to me,” she said.

Earlier this week, Lake Worth ISD confirmed that its school resource officers assisted Fort Worth police by arresting one of its students in connection with the case.

Kirsnick Khari Ball, 28, known as Takeoff, was a member of the trio Migos along with Quavo and Offset. A representative for members of Migos, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the death to The Associated Press.

According to KPRC News in Houston, police said that Migos members Quavo and Takeoff were in attendance at the time of the shooting.

Drew Findling, known as the “Billion Dollar Lawyer” and is reported to have represented rappers and hip-hop artists including Migos and Cardi B, said the death of Takeoff was a devastating loss.

“Along with my firm, I am devastated by the tragic death of Kirshnik Ball, known to his fans as Takeoff,” Findling said in a statement. “Takeoff was not only a brilliant musical artist with unlimited talent but also a uniquely kind and gentle soul. He will be greatly missed now and always.”

Migos Nov 1, 2022

Houston Police Announce Efforts to Protect Hip-Hop Community After Rapper's Murder

Houston Nov 1, 2022

Houston Police Give Update on Fatal Shooting Investigation of Rapper Takeoff

The Houston Police Department said officers and Houston Fire Department officials responded to reports of a shooting at 810 Billiards & Bowling, located in Downtown Houston, at about 2:40 a.m.

According to the Houston Police Department, the incident occurred as the business was closing for the night and a large crowd of people gathered near the front door.

Police said some of the individuals at the scene were involved in an argument, at which point someone started shooting.

When officers arrived at the scene, they located a large crowd and a man with a gunshot wound to the head or neck, police told KPRC.

According to police, another man and woman were also injured during the shooting. Police said both individuals sustained gunshot wounds and were taken by private vehicle to local hospitals.

No arrests have been announced in connection to the shooting, police told the Associated Press.

Sergeant Michael Arrington of the Houston Homicide Division called on eyewitnesses to help identify the gunman who killed Migos rapper Takeoff at a Houston-area bowling alley Monday night. Tips can be called into the Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or anonymously at 713-222-TIPS.

Check back and refresh this article for the latest update.

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“So we decided to speak on what happened to Gabriel to get justice for him,” said older sister Natalie Zamora.

Gabriel was a passenger in a family vehicle when, according to police, an apparent road rage driver cut their car off, then pulled up along the passenger side, while someone in the suspect’s vehicle fired shots, hitting Gabriel in the front passenger seat.

It happened just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 24 along CF Hawn Freeway, or U.S. Route 175, in Dallas. The suspect vehicle is described as a white 2008 to 2012 model Chevy Silverado.

“My brother, he is in a coma,” Zamora said. “He’s been in a coma for around two to three weeks now.”

Zamora said her little brother, a freshman at Dallas ISD’s W.T. White High School, is a loving, caring boy. She is hoping for justice.

“Yes, justice for us, but also for the other families who I know have also suffered accidents on that same freeway.”

Just eight hours before Gabriel was shot, 59-year-old Rudy Marshall was shot in another apparent road rage incident on U.S. 175. Marshall died from his injuries.

According to the Dallas Police Department, at least 17 people have died in road rage incidents since 2021.

AAA did a survey that showed road rage is not uncommon. Eight of every 10 drivers surveyed reported at least one incident.

An Everytown Research study showed an average of 44 people in the U.S. were shot and either wounded or killed due to road rage each month in 2021. That’s double the pre-pandemic average.

“I just want them to find who it was,” Zamora said.

ONLINE: Zamora has started a GoFundMe account to help pay for her brother’s medical expenses.

After deliberating for several hours over two days, a jury found Baytown Officer Juan Delacruz not guilty of aggravated assault by a public servant for the May 2019 shooting death of Turner in the parking lot of an apartment complex where they both lived in suburban Houston.

Delacruz, who is Hispanic, shot Turner after a struggle with the 44-year-old Black woman that a bystander captured on video. Authorities say the confrontation began after Delacruz tried to arrest Turner on warrants for several misdemeanor charges.

The footage showed Delacruz standing over Turner and reaching down to try to grab her arms. Turner then yells, “I’m pregnant.” Moments later, something flashes as she reaches her arm out toward the officer. Suddenly, Delacruz pulls away and fires five gunshots.

The verdict upset Turner’s family. Her family and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said jurors were prevented by the judge from hearing evidence related to past encounters Turner and Delacruz had and his knowledge about her struggles with mental illness.

“This is not fair, and we are tired of it,” said Antoinette Dorsey-James, Turner’s sister.
Ogg called Turner’s death a tragedy and said that when “the jury isn’t able to receive all the evidence, it’s hard for justice to be heard.”

Greg Cagle, one of Delacruz’s attorneys, said that the police officer shot Turner in self-defense only after she used his stun gun against him and that he feared for his life.

“Pamela Turner made a decision to evade arrest, to resist arrest, take a weapon from a police officer, not only take it but then use it against him,” Cagle told jurors Monday.

During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors questioned whether Delacruz was in danger, saying that he had been able to move several feet away after the confrontation and that he shot Turner while she was still on the ground.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Turner’s family, has said she was not pregnant but had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

“She wasn’t perfect, and we’ve not tried to hide that from you guys today,” prosecutor Timothy Adams told jurors. “But the fact is she did not deserve to die on the sidewalk, a few feet from her home.”

Crump, who in recent years has represented victims of police brutality and vigilante violence and has been the lawyer for the families of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, called the jury’s verdict “a setback in the effort for equal justice under the law in America.”

After her death, rallies critical of the police shooting were held by Black Lives Matter Houston and community activists.
Delacruz, who has been with the Baytown police department since 2008, did not face any disciplinary action after the shooting and was placed on administrative assignment within the police department while awaiting his trial.
If he had been convicted, Delacruz would have faced from five years to life in prison

A federal civil rights lawsuit Turner’s family has filed against Delacruz and the city of Baytown remains pending.

James Brennand, 27, was charged in the Oct. 2 shooting of Erik Cantu, 17, according to a police statement.

Cantu’s family said in a statement Tuesday that “there is no improvement in his condition. He is still unconscious and is on life support. The last two days have been difficult, and we expect more difficulty ahead, but we remain hopeful.”

Their attorney, Brian Powers, said it’s “an incredibly difficult time for them.”

A rookie officer, Brennand reported the vehicle in which Cantu sat had evaded him the night before during an attempted traffic stop. Brennand said he suspected the vehicle had been stolen.

In body camera footage released by police, Brennand opens the car door and tells Cantu to get out. The car drives backward, door open, and the officer fires multiple times into the vehicle. He continues to shoot as the car drives away.

Investigators quickly determined that the use of deadly force was unwarranted, Brennand was swiftly fired, and charges against Cantu of aggravated assault and evading arrest were dropped.

In an appearance on CNN Tuesday morning, Police Chief William McManus had said he expected Brennand to be charged with aggravated assault for the shooting and murder in the event Cantu dies.

McManus said Brennand’s body camera video of the Oct. 2 shooting was “horrific.”

“There is no question in anybody’s mind looking at that video that the shooting is not justified,” McManus said.

Police officials and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press. Brennand has no published telephone number and could not be reached for comment.

Cantu’s condition, as related in his family’s statement, is in stark contrast to that provided by police officials in the wake of the shooting that Cantu was hospitalized in stable condition.

“We’d like to correct any misrepresentations that Erik is in ‘stable condition’ or he is ‘going to be fine.’ That is not true. Every breath is a struggle for Erik. We ask for everyone’s continued prayers for our son,” according to the family statement.

In a story published October 11, 2022, about former San Antonio police officer James Brennand being charged with assault for shooting a teen, The Associated Press erroneously reported the former Brennand’s age. He is 27, not 25.

San Antonio Officer James Brennand was fired after shooting Erik Cantu, 17, on Oct. 2 in a fast food restaurant parking lot, police training commander Alyssa Campos said in a video statement released Wednesday.

Brennand had responded to an unrelated disturbance at the fast-food restaurant when he saw Cantu inside the car, which had evaded him a day earlier, Campos said.

A Texas prosecutor said in a statement Friday that he has not seen enough evidence to file charges against the teenager.

“While Sunday’s shooting of an unarmed teenager by a then-San Antonio Police officer remains under investigation, the facts and evidence we have received so far led us to reject the charges against Erik Cantu for further investigation,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said.

Brennand, who had been on the force for less than one year, violated his training and police procedures after approaching the car, Campos said.

“The officer abruptly opened the driver’s door and ordered the driver out of the car” before the arrival of backup officers that Brennand had requested, Campos said.

Cantu, in the officer’s body camera video, looks toward Brennand while holding a hamburger, then backs the car away, striking the officer with the open door.

Brennand then opened fire several times as the door closed and Cantu drove away.

Cantu, who was struck by gunfire, stopped nearby where he and a passenger, who was not injured, were found by police.

“There is nothing I can say in defense of that officer’s actions that night,” Police Chief William McManus told WOAI-TV. “I think what happened, initially, there was some contact made, but that did not justify the shooting.”

Cantu was hospitalized in stable condition and initially charged with evading police and aggravated assault.

Gonzales, the district attorney, said no decision had been made on whether to pursue charges against Brennand, pending the outcome of a police investigation into the shooting.

“As we do with all officer-involved shootings that result in death or serious injury, we will submit the case to a Grand Jury for their consideration. Until that happens, we can make no further comment on this matter,” Gonzales said.

Police and an attorney for Cantu did not immediately return phone calls for comment on Friday.

The shooting is being investigated as an off-campus incident but Dallas ISD did confirm that the juvenile is a student at the school.

Police say around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday officers were flagged down by witnesses near the park off Overton Road.

Those witnesses told police a shooting had just happened.

Once on scene, police found the 14-year-old victim, who was then transported to the hospital in stable condition.

Because the shooting was near South Oak Cliff High School, the school was placed on lockdown temporarily for the safety of students and staff, according to a Dallas ISD spokesperson.

Police told NBC 5 there was no information available on a possible suspect. It’s not yet clear what led up to the shooting.

No other injuries were reported.

Wednesday’s shooting comes one week after a shooting near Spruce High School.

During that incident, Dallas Police said officers were called to a shooting across the street from H. Grady Spruce High School in Southeast Dallas at about 4:30 p.m.

Investigators said someone in a car opened fire on a child before speeding away. The juvenile was injured and taken to an area hospital in stable condition.

While the shooting happened off campus, the victim was later confirmed to be a student at Spruce.

Officers responded to a shooting call in the 9600 block of CF Hawn Freeway, just shortly after 1:00 a.m.

According to Dallas police, a 22-year-old male was driving eastbound on CF Hawn Freeway with two passengers when a white Chevy Silverado, 2008-2012 model, cut him off.

The 22-year-old continued driving and noticed that same vehicle following him. He stated that once he got to CF Hawn Freeway and Prairie Creek Road, the suspect vehicle pulled up next to him and fired into his vehicle.

The driver and rear passenger realized that the 14-year-old juvenile male who was sitting as the front passenger in the vehicle had been shot and was unresponsive. The driver then took the next exit off of the freeway and parked and called for emergency services for the shot passenger.

The suspect vehicle reportedly continued to drive eastbound on CF Hawn Freeway.

Once Dallas Fire Rescue arrived on the scene the 14-year-old victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

Just before 11 p.m. Monday, a man opened fire on Potter County deputies working off-duty at the fair in Amarillo, Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas said.

Thomas said the “male suspect opened fire on the deputies, striking a deputy and an off-duty firefighter, also working at the fair, and a bystander.” Deputies returned fire, wounding the suspect.

The deputy, firefighter and bystander were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, authorities said. The gunman was taken to the hospital with injuries that were described as life-threatening.

Thomas did not identify any of the victims or the suspect. He did not offer a motive for the shooting, which is being investigated by the Texas Rangers.

Amarillo is about 365 miles northwest of Dallas.

Officers were called to a shooting in the 2500 block of Lemmon Avenue just before midnight Monday.

When officers arrived, police said they found a man in the front of the location with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital by Dallas Fire-Rescue where he underwent surgery but later died.

Though the investigation is in the early stages, police said the victim was previously asked to leave the store and that he took out a handgun from his waistband and threatened to shoot the security guard. The security guard then shot the man.

The man’s identity will be confirmed by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Dallas Police Special Investigations Unit and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office are conducting separate investigations into the shooting.

Michael Carneal was a 14-year-old freshman in 1997 when he fired a stolen pistol at a before-school prayer group in the lobby of Heath High School, near Paducah, Kentucky. He received a life sentence with the opportunity for parole after 25 years, the maximum allowed at the time for someone his age.

In one of the few interviews he has given since then, he told Kentucky newspaper the Courier Journal in 2002, “I perceived my life as miserable. Nobody loved me and nobody cared.”

Carneal said then that he was sorry for what he had done and acknowledged that he was only thinking of himself at the time, not the people he would hurt and kill. He said there was no simple answer for why he lashed out, but he was suffering from delusions and paranoia at the time. He said that therapy and medication he received in prison had stabilized his mental health. “It seems weird to say, but I am not really a violent person,” he added.

Carneal, who is now 39, did not respond to a recent written request for an interview from The Associated Press.

Carneal’s parole hearing is scheduled to start on Monday with testimony from those injured in the shooting and close relatives of those who were killed. On Tuesday, Carneal will make his case for release from the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange. If the board rules against him, they can decide how long Carneal should wait before his next opportunity to seek parole.

Killed in the shooting were were 14-year-old Nicole Hadley, 17-year-old Jessica James, and 15-year-old Kayce Steger. The injured include Missy Jenkins Smith, who was paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. She met with Carneal in prison in 2007 and had a long conversation with him. He apologized to her, and she said she has forgiven him.

“A lot of people think that exonerates him from consequences, but I don’t think so,” she said, adding that she is opposed to his release from prison. She worries that he is not equipped to handle life outside of prison and could still harm others. She also doesn’t think it would be right for him to walk free when the people he injured are still suffering.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel Boaz, the lead prosecutor for the area that includes Paducah, wrote a letter to the Kentucky Parole Board on Sept. 9 opposing Carneal’s release.

“I experienced and witnessed the immediate effects of Michael Carneal’s actions on December 1, 1997 and have dealt with the effects of his actions since then,” Boaz wrote.

The families of the children who were killed suffered a “loss is too vast to be put into words,” he wrote. While incarcerating Carneal for the rest of his life “may seem like a harsh penalty, it is only a pittance in comparison to what these families suffer.”

Garland Police said they were called to a shooting on the 3300 block of Broadway Boulevard at about 3 p.m. where officers found a man with an apparent gunshot wound. The man was transported to an area hospital for treatment. He is stable and in critical condition.

From Texas Sky Ranger, Garland officers were seen investigating in a taped-off area outside a Sonic drive-in adjacent to South Garland High School, indicating the shooting likely happened in the restaurant’s parking lot.

Officers arrested 18-year-old Edgar Francisco Solis Torres. He is being held in the Garland Detentions Center for aggravated assault-serious bodily injury, according to Garland police.

Investigators confirmed the shooting victim attends South Garland High School. Torres is not a student there, according to police.

Police are still investigating.

Investigators say one of the people injured is in custody.

Crime scene tape kept onlookers a good distance away from the Big T Plaza shopping center Saturday.

For people inside this afternoon, their focus was just getting away.

Brigette Yaimpir-Walker works in a hair-braiding shop in the Oak Cliff shopping center where most of the businesses are inside the mall-like plaza.

“You know when you see the people running, you don’t know what’s happened so you just have to run,” Yaimpir-Walker said.

Yaimpir-Walker said she hid in another business until officers said it was safe to come out.

Dallas Police say three people were shot Saturday inside the plaza in the 4500 block of Village Fair Drive.

One of those people did not survive.

Investigators say two others were injured, including the suspected shooter, who officers arrested on scene.

Dallas councilmember Carolyn King Arnold says one violent act may work against what’s been a big-picture positive year of reduced violent crime citywide and in her southern Dallas District 4.

“The community can be at rest because they don’t have to worry about whether or not somebody is running through the neighborhood trying to get away from the Dallas Police Department,” Arnold said.

Arnold said her primary concern Saturday was both the emotional and potential financial toll the violence has on small business owners inside the plaza.

“Some of them are traumatized,” Arnold said. “Some of them may be thinking in terms of ‘where do I go from here, is this the only place I can have my business’.”

Walker says those are not thoughts she is holding onto tonight, saying she plans to be back at work at her hair business on Sunday.

“I mean, it’s a little bit insecure but it’s not only here,” Yaimpir-Walker said. “It happens everywhere.”

DPD investigators have not released a motive but describe this deadly shooting as an isolated incident.

Please check back as this is a developing story.

Fort Worth police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of Chin “Jin” Shin, who was known to many as a pillar of the Dallas Asian community.

Shin was a father and owned Encore Family Karaoke where he met countless friends like Conrad Alagaban.

“His spirit is to help and to have fun, to have a good time and enjoy the people that he’s with,” said Alagaban.

He says Shin may have been dropping someone off in the early morning hours of August 15 when he bumped his Jeep into the back of a Hyundai Elantra in the 2500 block of University Drive in Fort Worth. 

Police say video of the incident shows three women get out of the car before three more vehicles pull up.

“It was a fender bender that went wrong, horribly wrong,” said Alagaban.

An arrest warrant affidavit says one of the men from the vehicles, “punched Chin in the back of the head” and that his keys were taken.

It says Shin opened his passenger door then walked away “with something in his hands … from the 8 individuals that had deprived him of access to his Jeep.”  When Shin returned, he was “holding a handgun … pointed at the ground.”

“Just knowing him, it’s to protect himself. He didn’t use it on anybody,” said Alagaban.

By then, police say the suspect Markynn West, 28, had pulled out a handgun from the car he was in.

He started firing, according to the affidavit, striking Shin who ran but was found nearby.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said Shin died from gunshot wounds to the torso.

“It’s horrible to think about that he went through it by himself,” said Alagaban.

Alagaban says no one should ever lose their life over a fender bender.

He wants Shin to be remembered for how he lived, not how he died.

“Pass the goodness forward. Pass the kind acts forward,” said Alagaban.

West was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge. He’s since bonded out of jail.

Ibrahim Alkhateeb, 65, was shot in his head a little after midnight on July 5 and crashed into a house in the 3400 block of Wedgworth Road, police said.

Witnesses told detectives they saw two people exit Ibrahim’s car shortly before the crash, police said.

Chaeshuntae Walton, 17, was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.

After Alkhateeb died at a hospital last week, the charge was upgraded to murder.

According to Walton’s arrest warrant, detectives spoke with Alkhateeb’s family and learned he was working for Lyft at the time he was killed.

Information from Lyft revealed that Walton was his customer that night and that she changed her Lyft profile about 20 minutes after the murder, police said.

Walton told investigators she and another person hired Lyft to go to a party that night and the other person tried to rob the driver and shot him in the head.

Walton said she changed her Lyft profile “because she knew this would come back on her,” according to the warrant.

Detectives said they could not identify the second suspect.

Walton is being held in the Tarrant County jail.

Her attorney, Samuel Terry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The attack happened at about 1 a.m. Sunday in a mixed industrial-residential neighborhood in southwest Houston. Police and fire crews responded to the apartment house after reports of the fire, police Chief Troy Finner said.

The gunman opened fire, possibly with a shotgun, on the other tenants as they emerged from the house, Finner said. Two were dead at the scene, and one died at a hospital. Fire teams rescued two other wounded men, who were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.

Michael James told Houston TV station KPRC that he was returning home from work when he was shot in the back.

“I saw the house was on fire, and I saw flames, so I called 911,” James said. “I didn’t get through, so I turned my back and headed back out the driveway. And all of a sudden, boom.”

The man opened fire as the firefighters battled the fire, forcing them to take cover until police officers spotted the prone gunman and fatally shot him, Finner said.

Finner said no firefighters or officers were wounded.

“I’ve seen things I have not seen before in 32 years, and it has happened time and time again,” Finner said. “We just ask that the community come together.”

A neighbor, Robin Ahrens, told the Houston Chronicle that he heard what he initially thought were fireworks as he prepared for work.

“I’m just fortunate that I didn’t go outside because he probably would have shot me too,” he told the newspaper.

He said the shooter, who had colon cancer, was behind on his rent, jobless and was recently notified that he was being evicted.

“Something must have just hit him in the last couple of days really hard to where he just didn’t care,” he said.