Around 12:40 a.m. on Sunday, multiple shots were fired from various weapons near the intersection of North Malcolm X Boulevard and Main Street. Police say an 18-year-old man identified as Kenneth Walker and five others were shot. The six were transported to a hospital, where Walker later died. A 19-year-old who has not been identified is in critical condition, police say.
According to police, the remaining four victims, all females between the ages of 15 and 30, are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Karina Gonzalez was in Deep Ellum for the first time and witnessed the shooting first hand. Gonzalez, who was visiting two friends, said she and her friends were walking towards a bar when the gunfire started. She said the gunfire exchange was between people in a vehicle parked on the street and a gunman standing on the sidewalk.
“We heard the first bang-bang-bang-bang, and everybody was still kind of shocked, like what was going on, trying to figure out if it was shots or not,” Gonzalez said. “And then another five rounds went off, and that’s when everybody started bolting.”
Gonzalez said she and her friends hid behind a concrete barrier while other people dropped to the ground to avoid being hit by the gunshots. Gonzalez added that she shielded a female victim who had been shot in the leg.
“I could’ve lost one of my friends,” she said. “I could’ve lost my life.”
Gonzalez said the incident was the scariest thing she had ever witnessed and that she would not be visiting Deep Ellum at night ever again.
Dallas police arrested a suspect, an 18-year-old identified as Lathaniel Pearson. According to officials, officers heard the gunshots and found Pearson pointing a gun when they arrived on site. The 18-year-old dropped the weapon and attempted running away, but he was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest.
The Dallas PD has not drawn a connection between Pearson and Walker’s death or the others shot. It is unclear whether the victims of the shooting were hit by the rounds Pearson fired.