ARLINGTON, Texas — An 18-year-old male faces a murder charge in connection to the deadly shooting at the Hurricane Harbor parking lot Wednesday, police said. New details were also shared in an arrest warrant affidavit about the moments leading up to the shooting.
Cameron Lavon Stephens was booked into Arlington jail, Arlington police said Friday morning. He was later moved to the Tarrant County jail, according to jail records.
A 16-year-old Arlington ISD student was killed in the shooting Wednesday, police said. He was identified as Dai'trell "Daidai" Teal, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.
The shooting happened shortly after the park closed at 7 p.m. when "six to eight" people got into a confrontation in the parking lot, police said.
Arlington Police Department, detectives with the U.S. Marshals Service North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested Stephens overnight in the 2700 block of Haverwood Lane at a convenience store in North Dallas, police said.
“We are grateful for the quick actions of our detectives based upon information provided by our community to arrest the person responsible for this incident,” said Al Jones, Chief of Police.
New details
Shots rang out Wednesday evening outside Hurricane Harbor. Arlington police said a uniformed, but off-duty, police officer working at the park heard horns honking in the parking lot and saw the fight.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, there were four people with Teal and they were interviewed by police.
They were at the water park in a vehicle together to pick up one of their friends. They told police that the suspected shooter confronted them and they didn't know who he was or what he was talking about, the affidavit said.
The suspect "parked in a nearby parking space yelled out something to the effect of, 'hey, y'all got beef with 2100 or Famous John?'" the affidavit said. "No one in the group was familiar with what the unknown male was talking about."
One of them told him that no one in the group has any beef with anyone.
"He [the suspect] looked at the group and believed he knew one of the males from Irving," the affidavit said. "Witness 5 again told him that no one knew him and he should go away." The suspect ran to his vehicle, grabbed a gun and started shooting, the affidavit said.
A man and his wife who were bystanders witnessed the shooting. The man threw his wife to the ground to protect her from gunshots and she was hospitalized for broken bones, according to the affidavit.
Teal, a Martin High School student, was rushed to a local hospital where he died from his injuries, police said. The cause of death, according to the medical examiner, was a gunshot wound to the back.
The people in the group described what the suspected shooter looked like. Detectives and members of the Gang Unit interviewed family members at the hospital. They found a social media profile for the suspected shooter and police identified him. He was also identified by witnesses from a photo lineup.
Arlington police are asking for any witnesses or anyone with videos, social media pictures or video of the fight to call them.