The State Fair of Texas reopened the fairgrounds at 2:00 p.m. Sunday with scheduled events as planned after a gunman shot and wounded three people Saturday night.
Dallas police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Cameron Turner, charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The State Fair of Texas made a statement Sunday morning that its team is “deeply saddened by the incident last night on the fairgrounds.”
It continued to say, “Safety is the number one priority of the State Fair of Texas. We are committed to upholding the level of security required to ensure the State Fair of Texas event is a safe and family-friendly environment for all fairgoers, vendors, and employees. We look forward to welcoming guests today (Sunday, 10/15) starting at 2:00 p.m. We ask that everyone remain “Fair Aware.” If you see something that doesn’t look right on the fairgrounds, please say something to a uniformed police officer or State Fair Safety Team member.”
One fairgoer shared the video below of what she called, “the scariest moment of my life.”
Another fairgoer shared videos and photos of what happened in the food court when people started dispersing.
A third fairgoer, Awbrey Steele, shared video with CBS News Texas and detailed her experience while on the Ferris wheel, watching everyone run on the ground below.
“We were just getting on to the Ferris wheel and we heard screaming,” she said. “We didn’t hear shots and then everyone started running towards the exit. The workers would not tell us what had happened and just told us the fair was closed. There were many police that were heavily armed at the exits and police throughout being very stern, ushering everyone to go home.”
“We went around probably three times or so before we got off,” Steele continued. “There wasn’t a feeling of safety truly being up on top. We had suspicions it was a shooting just from seeing the mass panic, but we did not know for sure and we did not know if it was a mass shooter shooting randomly or not. We were glad the workers stayed to control the Ferris wheel. If it were a mass shooting, we [would be] way more scared because we would have been sitting with no way to escape.”
Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson responded to the shooting on X saying, “The State Fair of Texas is a treasured event – a celebration of food, family, and fun. Although this incident was isolated, I am outraged that anyone would choose to act out violently at the Fair. We will not tolerate this behavior. I know @DallasPD, which patrols our Fair, will work with @StateFairOfTX to ensure the rest of the event is safe for everyone.”
While the State Fair said no changes to its weapons policy are planned, “As a precautionary measure we are working with DPD and our private security partners to increase security measures at all gates and increase security presence throughout the fairgrounds for the remainder of the Fair.”
Source: CBS News
