Four charged in connection with Labor Day shooting
Published 10:07 pm Monday, September 1, 2014
Four people have been arrested and charged for their involvement in a dangerous shooting incident in downtown Selma early Monday morning.
Selma Police are continuing to investigate what might have led to two men to reportedly fire dozens of shots in the direction of a crowd of people near clubs just feet away from the Selma Police Department headquarters.
Officers were working the downtown club detail, when they were attempting to disperse a large crowd from a local nightclub, where a fight had occurred in the 1200 block of Alabama Avenue.
While at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and Franklin Street, at around 2:45 a.m., officers saw a black male with dreadlocks wearing a white T-shirt and another male wearing a red T-shirt in the parking lot of a downtown business. Police reported seeing the two males fire weapons in the direction of a group of people and then attempt to leave in two different cars.
The suspect wearing the white T-shirt, 20-year-old Wesley Washington, attempted to leave in a blue Nissan Altima, while P. Martinez Newberry, 20, the suspect wearing the red T-shirt, attempted to leave in a blue Crown Victoria.
Both cars were stopped by police and searched, and the occupants questioned.
Six people, including Newberry, were in the Crown Victoria. Derrick Smith, 21, Terrence Smith, 23, Taylor Thomas, 20, Tierra Rembert, 23 and Tradona Ghant, 19, were removed from the vehicle.
Inside the Crown Victoria, police found four semi-automatic handguns and one revolver.
Inside the Altima, police removed Washington and 27-year-old David Lowe. A search of the Altima did not produce any weapons.
At the scene, police recovered 36 shell casings in the parking lot and two unoccupied vehicles were damaged by gunshots.
After being interviewed by police, the female detainees and Lowe were released.
Washington was charged with two counts of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle, one count of reckless endangerment and one count of concealed weapon license violation. Washington was placed in the Dallas County Jail under a total bond of $212,000.
Newberry was charged with one count of discharging a firearm into an unoccupied vehicle, one count of reckless endangerment and one count of concealed weapon license violation. Newberry was placed in the Dallas County Jail under a bond totaling $112,000.
Derrick Smith was charged with one count of concealed weapon license violation. He was placed in the Dallas County Jail under a $6,000 bond.
Terrence Smith was charged with one count of concealed weapon license violation. He was placed in the Dallas County Jail under a $6,000 bond.