2 Killed, 12 Injured At Packed College Party, Shooter Still At Large
GREENVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) — The FBI, ATF, Texas Rangers and the Hunt County Sheriff's Department are still searching for the man who shot and killed two people and injured 12 others at a college party near Greenville.
Sheriff Randy Meeks said the man didn't attend the party — filled with around 750 people — but came armed with a handgun and opened fire.
Meeks pleaded with those who attended the party to come forward with any information that will lead to the shooter. However, investigators said they still don't have a solid description of the suspect because people aren't cooperating.
Meeks said "it was mass chaos" because of the amount of people trying to exit the building.
He said aside from the two young men killed, the suspect shot six others, four of them critically. Six others were hurt while running for their lives, including those who had to break windows to get out.
But, the sheriff believes the shooter had one victim in mind.
"The shooter came in the back door and his first victim may have been his target victim, by theory and circumstantial evidence we have," he said. "And then the rest of them were just random."
The shooting came during Texas A&M Commerce's homecoming week, but the party wasn't an official school event.
The University said four current students received minor injuries.
Meeks said a sergeant and deputy were already at the party before the shooting to respond to complaints of illegally parked cars.
When shots were fired, Meeks said they couldn't find the suspect in all of the confusion.
"When you have this many people in one place, it's an easy target for somebody," he said.
Hours later, Kimberly Wilson came to the party venue along U.S. Highway 380 to pick up her daughter's car.
She said her daughter was overwhelmed.
"At this point she's crying because she's like, 'I could've lost my life,'" Wilson said. "She didn't realize what she was running from."
Meeks praised the sergeant who responded because he found a victim with life-threatening injuries and drove them to the hospital right away, and that the deputy there helped triage other victims.