Ian Patrick, FISM News
Police in Dumas, Arkansas are still searching for the person responsible for opening fire at a car show Saturday, leaving 28 wounded and one dead. However, the police have confirmed that “one suspect is in custody” and they are searching for potentially others involved in the crime.
A statement released Sunday morning said, “Special Agents of the state police Criminal Investigation Division have worked through the night interviewing victims and witnesses.”
“State troopers assigned to the Highway Patrol Division have been assisting Dumas police officers restore calm to the community and securing the crime scene along U.S. Highway 65 which runs through the center of the southeast Arkansas town,” it added.
In a press conference later on Sunday, Arkansas State Police Colonel Bill Bryant said that calls about the shooting came in at 6:50 p.m. Saturday at a parking lot “where a car show was being held and hosted by Hood-Nic Foundation.” The Dumas-based foundation initially responded to the shooting in a message on Facebook, saying, “The purpose of Hood-Nic has always been to bring the community together. This senseless violence needs to end.”
The victims of the shooting were sent to local hospitals in the Dumas and McGehee area. Bryant also confirmed that there were at least five children under the age of 11 wounded in the fire and taken to nearby hospitals. Cameron Schaffer, a 23-year-old, was the only victim that died from the incident thus far.
Bryant said that police are “actively following leads of a possible second suspect involved.” He also confirmed that this wasn’t a mass shooting, but an exchange of gunfire between two individuals that caught others in the crossfire. Bryant did not confirm that the incident was gang-related at the time.
The one suspect in custody was arrested under “unrelated charges,” and Bryant said that they were “still looking for two people” during the press conference. Bryant said the suspects may have been attending the car show when the alleged gunfight broke out.