Man arrested after shooting during a motorcycle rally left 6 injured in Galveston, Texas
By Paradise Afshar and Melissa Alonso, CNN
(CNN) — A 20-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting that injured six people during a motorcycle rally in Galveston, Texas, Saturday night, police said.
Shots were fired as crowds were gathered for the Lone Star Rally in a historic district known as The Strand around 11 p.m., Galveston Police Department spokesperson Kurt Koopmann told CNN.
Police detained Peddis Ray of Hitchcock, Texas, as a “person of interest” at the scene of the shooting, Galveston Police said in a news release Monday.
“At the time he was apprehended, Ray was in possession of a firearm, and has since been charged with six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,” police said in a news release.
“Each count carries a bond of $100,000 with a total bond of $600,000,” police said. Ray is currently being held in the Galveston County Jail, court records show. CNN was unable to determine whether he has retained an attorney.
The shooting is believed to be “related to ongoing gun related violence in Galveston County, and nothing has shown it is related to the rally itself,” Galveston Police Chief Doug Balli said.
“The suspect claims to be a member of a local gang and we believe the investigation will show the suspect was targeting rival gang members,” Balli added.
Five people who were shot were taken to an area trauma center for treatment and were still hospitalized Monday, including one person in critical condition, police said. The sixth victim had minor injuries and did not seek medical treatment.
The rally had already drawn a heavy law enforcement presence to the area, which allowed first responders to react quickly, Koopmann said.
The Lone Star Rally is billed as the largest four-day motorcycle rally in North America, according to its Facebook page. The organizers posted that hundreds of thousands of people were headed to the island this weekend.
Galveston is an island city on the Gulf Coast of Texas, about 50 miles from Houston.
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