Killeen police have arrested a 19-year-old in connection with the Sixth Street mass shooting earlier this month, officials said.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Forces and the Killeen Police Department SWAT Team located and arrested De'ondre Jermirris White in the 1300 block of Anna Lee Drive near Fort Hood Street in Killeen.
White was named the new suspect in the June 12 mass shooting in downtown Austin on Tuesday.
Austin Police Department investigators suspect he is responsible for the shooting death of Douglas Kantor, a 25-year-old tourist, as well as the shooting injuries of "many, if not all of" the 13 other victims, interim Police Chief Joe Chacon said in a press conference Tuesday.
Two other juveniles, previously charged and detained in the shooting, had their cases dropped on Tuesday. Travis County prosecutors announced that they dismissed the charges against Jeremiah Tabb, who was arrested last week on a charge of aggravated assault, and a second teen — whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile — was charged with deadly conduct.
"At this time, we believe that Mr. White was the only shooter," Travis County District Attorney José Garza said.
Police said the shooting was the result of a ongoing dispute between groups in Killeen.
On June 12, just before 1:30 a.m., the two groups encountered each other in downtown Austin and pointed guns at one another. Shots were fired, and those involved fled. First-responders found victims covered in blood, spread across the street.
Chacon said Tuesday that "based now on multiple witness interviews; ballistic evidence; video evidence; and the positions of the suspect, Mr. White, and the victims, we know that White was the person who fired his handgun, striking Mr. Kantor and multiple other victims."
Chacon also said Tuesday that White's gun had been linked through ballistic evidence to other violent crimes as well.
White has been charged with murder — a first degree felony — and was booked into the Bell County Jail with a bail of $1 million.
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