1 dead, 1 injured after 3 fire guns during Arlington drug deal gone wrong, police say
Three men drew their guns and fired at each other during a drug deal gone wrong at an Arlington apartment complex Thursday night, resulting in one man dying and another man suffering injuries, police said.
Officials with the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified the man as Michael Cleon Williams Jr., 20, of Grand Prairie. He died from gunshot wounds and his was ruled a homicide.
Police said the injured man is expected to survive. The third man was arrested.
The incident occurred, police said in an email Friday morning, when the three were involved in “high-risk” drug activity at apartments in the 2300 block of Silverbrook Lane. A police incident report notes there was a drug deal.
Police believe “the man who was ultimately killed tried to rob the other two men at gunpoint,” spokesman Tim Ciesco said in an email. He began shooting at them, he said, and they fired back.
Police noted in a news release, “At this point in the investigation, the homicide is considered justified.”
The man who was arrested, Jaylon Richard, 21, faces charges of unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of marijuana greater than 4 ounces and less than 5 pounds, according to Arlington Jail records.
Officers responded to a shooting in progress call at the apartments around 9:45 p.m., police said. They found two men who had been shot, police said, and pronounced one of them dead at the scene. The other man was taken to a hospital.
The third man involved wasn’t hit in the exchange of gunfire, police said.
The three men “were in the process of exchanging narcotics” when the gun battle began, the incident report says. The suspect threw a bag of marijuana over a fence before officers arrived, according to the report.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the identity of the deceased man pending the notification of next of kin.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 11:23 AM.
