Birthday celebration ends with man shot to death in Arlington hotel parking lot
A birthday party ended in tragedy early Sunday when a man was shot to death in a parking lot after he brandished a handgun, police said.
The gunman fled the scene after the shooting.
The victim was identified as Jovani-Jykee Wright, 25, of DeSoto, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office website on Sunday. A ruling on his death is pending an autopsy. His birthday was Wednesday.
Patrol officers were dispatched to a shooting call shortly before 1 a.m. at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott in the 1700 block of E. Lamar Boulevard.
Detectives learned a birthday party had been occurring in the hotel when several groups of men began showing up. At some point, several men walked out to the parking lot to fight.
Witnesses told detectives the victim pulled out a handgun and waved it around before he put it back in his pants.
The suspect brandished a handgun and shot the victim several times, police said. But the victim managed to pull out his handgun and fired at the suspect.
“It is unknown if the suspect was struck or not,” said police Lt. Christopher Cook in a Sunday news release.
Police arrived to find the victim with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.
Officers responding to the call conducted a traffic stop of a person leaving the scene, arresting him after they found marijuana and a stolen rifle out of Louisiana in the vehicle.
Cook said that suspect was not believed to the suspect in the killing.
Detectives also discovered the victim had been firing a handgun that also was stolen out of Louisiana.
Investigators have collected surveillance footage from the hotel and continued to work Sunday on identifying the shooter.
A hotel official declined to comment on Sunday.
Anyone with information should contact Det. Richard Coleman at 817-459-5373. Tipsters could be eligible for cash rewards by contacting Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477.
This story was originally published September 9, 2018 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Birthday celebration ends with man shot to death in Arlington hotel parking lot."