Shots fired at vigil for Texas shooting
Ryan W. Miller
Police were still searching Monday for a suspect in a deadly shooting at an off-campus party in Texas, which drew a Sunday vigil that also saw more shots fired.
Two people were killed and 12 others injured near a Texas A&M campus in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas, when shots rang out around midnight early Sunday.
“When the shots were fired, it was complete chaos as people fled for safety and deputies attempted to locate the shooter,” Hunt County Sheriff Randy Meeks said.
Meeks said Sunday authorities had not yet identified a suspect but believe there was one male shooter who might have been targeting one of the victims.
Gunfire erupted as hundreds of people, mostly people in their late teens or early 20s, were at a Saturday Halloween and homecoming party for Texas A&M
University-Commerce, though officials have said it was not a school-sanctioned event.
Meeks said the shooter entered through the back door of The Party Venue, about 15 miles from the school’s campus, and began firing with a handgun.
After shooting a targeted victim, the gunman then began firing at random,
Meeks said. The rampage caused the 750 people in the venue to flee, including the shooter.
“The amount of people that were there, the overcrowdedness of it – it gave the opportunity for this shooter to be able to accomplish whatever he wanted to accomplish,” Meeks said, per the Dallas Morning News. “When you have this many people in one place, it’s an easy target for somebody.”
Meeks said deputies were at the venue when the shooting happened, responding to calls about parking complaints. Deputies heard gunshots coming from the back of the building but could not immediately determine whether the shots were fired from inside or outside, Meeks said.
Authorities on Monday identified the two male victims as Kevin Berry Jr., 23, of Dallas, and Byron Craven Jr., 23, of Arlington.