New details on trail ride shooting incident

TYLER — Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith gave new details Monday regarding the Sunday morning trail ride incident that sent five people to the hospital after a string of shootings. According to our news partner KETK, Smith said in a press conference that his office, the fire marshal’s office, and the district attorney’s office will be going after the organizers of the event with “any civil lawsuit, as well as any criminal enforcement.” Smith added, “We’ll be looking at failure to stop and render aid, just anything that we can file on the event holder, or anyone else, they’ve broken the law in Smith County and will be prosecuted.”

Smith also said that when law enforcement arrived on scene, the event organizers and security were gone and as of press conference time, they have not been in contact with any of the organizers, nor have they located any of them. He further said no permit was filed for the event and that, as far as officials know, the organizers did not have permission to use the property that they were on. However, Smith emphasized that anyone who was only attending the event, excluding the shooters, will not face any charges and is encouraged to assist law enforcement with the investigation by calling the sheriff’s office at 903-566-6600.

According to a press release, five gunshot victims were taken to hospitals in Longview, Kilgore, and Tyler. According to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, a 30-year-old victim is still in the hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to his facial area. At the time of the shooting, this individual was out on bond for a murder in Marshal in November 2021. It was reported that the 13-year-old victim was still in the hospital and this is incorrect. The 13-year-old was treated and released from the hospital on the morning of the shooting. The sheriff’s office responded to the scene at around 12:35 a.m. Sunday when they received reports of multiple gunshot victims on FM 2767 in eastern Smith County. Officials said that further investigation determined that the event had been organized by Unified Elite Riderz out of Marshall and had been described as a trail ride, ATV ride and horse show. Multiple SCSO deputies responded to the scene, along with the Smith County Fire Marshal’s office, Constable Pct. 4 office, and DPS troopers.