Fair shooting suspect identified, arrested after evacuation; Sunday opening delayed
The State Fair of Texas is set to open at 2 p.m. Tuesday, four hours later than its usual schedule, after a shooting Saturday night left three people injured, according to a tweet from the fair.
Dallas police arrested 22-year-old Cameron Turner on three charges of aggravated assault, according to a news release from police. Investigators believe he opened fire targeting another man and hit two other people. All three were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The victims have not been publicly identified. Dallas police announced on Twitter around 8:05 p.m. that one suspect, now identified as Turner, was in custody.
The shooting prompted the fair to begin an emergency evacuation. Police said the shots were fired in the food court inside the Tower Building around 7:45 p.m. Saturday. But video from the fair showed people in all different parts of the park running to find exits.
The fair increased security after last year a hoax caused panic among fairgoers. In that instance, someone shouted that there was a shooter when there was no such threat. Still, the fair said this year it instituted new measures including high-tech weapons scanners and increased security personnel, including uniformed and plainclothes police.
Fair administration also decided to require anyone under the age of 18 have a chaperon 21 or older after 5 p.m.
It’s unclear how the increase of Dallas police in the park impacted the response time of officers to the shooting.
Adam Balzadua, a Dallas city councilmember, said on Twitter Saturday night that the man who opened fire and the man he specifically targeted knew each other and were fighting before shots were fired.
The fair said in a statement on social media Sunday morning that its team “is deeply saddened by the incident last night on the fair grounds.”
It urged people to maintain situational awareness, reporting anything that doesn’t seem right to police or security personnel.
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 11:41 AM.