Earlier this week, Fort Worth
suffered A heartbreaking tragedy. It
happened to one of the most historic
and loved communities in Fort Worth.
As you know, we had 11 people shot
and three people lost their lives.
And you know what?
That's not even true.
They didn't lose their lives.
Their lives were taken from them.
Violently and senselessly,
we at the Fort Worth Police Department,
along with everyone at the City of
Fort Worth, took this personally.
Our officers from multiple units,
including our Homicide Unit,
begin working around the clock to
bring those responsible to justice
with assistance from several
units such as our gang unit,
our real time crime Center.
Our direct response unit,
our patrol officers,
we are proud to announce that
for the residents of Fort Worth,
for the community of Como and most
importantly for the victims who
died that day, Cynthia Santos,
22 years old, Gabriela Navarret,
18 years old and Paul Willis, 18 years old.
We have made two arrests in this
case today, Friday, July 7th,
our homicide detectives arrested 20
year old Christopher Reddick Junior
and 19 year old Brandon Williams.
Both are in custody at this time for murder.
This is still an ongoing investigation
and anyone with any information,
any video, anything that could be
of value to the investigation.
We asked that you call our homicide unit at
817-392-4330. I spoke with the mayor
about this today and made her aware.
She sent her regrets because
of a prior family commitment.
She could not be here, but she was
thrilled to find out of the arrest.
We had a meeting last night in
Lake Como at the Community Center.
It was a very moving meeting.
It felt almost like a therapy session,
to be quite honest.
We heard about the trauma,
we heard about the heartache,
We heard some,
some of the family members
of those who died that day.
But we also heard about the
resilience of the Como community,
the resilience of the of the family
that they are in that community,
despite the tragedy of the situation,
the spot. The young lives that were taken,
we saw a community who,
instead of laying down and giving up,
stood tall, rallied around one
another and loved one another.
And I have to say,
it's been heartworming to see the
entire city of Fort Worth and the
nation rally around the Como community,
and we will continue to do so.
We ask that you please continue to keep.
The loved ones of all of the victims,
the Como community, the city of Fort Worth,
and for the officers that responded that day,
in your thoughts and in your prayers.
As we all continue to heal together,
I'll be glad to take some questions
at this point, if you have any,
Chief. What were the circumstances
that both of these men were involved
with the shooting at each other,
with the shooting at other people?
What? What do you know about that?
That I don't know much about yet?
We were just notified.
Earlier that today,
as soon as we were notified,
we wanted to get the information out.
Our investigators are working on exactly
what information they can release,
but that I don't have at this point.
What? What led you to
these two men, The exact details?
What pieces of evidence got them there?
I don't know. But I can tell you this,
our gang unit worked really hard because
we do believe this was gang related from
their expertise and their experience.
With the entire city of Fort Worth were able
to work hand in hand with the homicide unit,
we had officers poring over video over
and over again to collect even the
slightest bit of evidence they could to
help them identify the people involved.
So it really was a cumulative effort for
many people within the department looking at
every bit of evidence they possibly could.
Several
unidentified suspects? Are there
other arrests that are expected?
It's possible at this point we we
have the two that we have confirmed
that I mentioned that were involved,
but we want to make sure we take
every measure we can to take
anyone else who might possibly be
involved into custody as well. But
we still believe that they opened
fire on the crowd, but we don't
know why or if there was someone
in the crowd they were targeting.
My understanding immediately
prior to the shots there was
some type of an altercation.
I don't know specifically
who they were shooting at,
but there's a potential that
altercation is what initiated
the the violence to occur. Are
these guys from Fort Worth,
from Fort Worth? Yes. Were
they arrested in Fort Worth?
That's my understanding.
I don't know the exact location.
I just suspect agreed to be
interviewed by homicide detectives.
I'm sorry, did either suspect agree
to be interviewed by homicide? I
understand that they were interviewed.
I don't have the details of
the interview, unfortunately,
but they did speak with detectives
between between the two
of them or somebody else.
I'm not sure on that. Jason,
you confident these were the only two
people who fired guns that night?
We believe that they were
two people that fired guns,
but I'm not ready at this point
to say they were the only ones.
Adds to the list of people in this age
group, just this year
alone that's been involved in
gun violence. What do you say to
the young people in our city in this
age group, when it comes to the gun
violence that we're seeing, there
is so much more to live for.
There is so much more value that
should be placed not only on the
lives of the potential victims,
but on themselves as well.
It seems unfortunately the only
conflict resolution skills.
Some are using involve a gun.
It doesn't matter how minor
an altercation may be.
Someone pulls out a gun and then
maybe someone else pulls out a gun
and it ends in death and tragedy.
What I'd like to say to them
is they're so young,
they have so much to live for.
Just take a moment.
Council Member Jared Williams
is here with us today,
and you've heard of the
One Second Collaborative,
but you may not really know
what's behind that name.
Just take one second.
Just take a breath.
If the first thought you have is to
turn to a gun, just take one second.
Make another choice.
Live to see tomorrow.
Do we know if they
were at the large gathering before
the altercation or they showed up,
went to go get? Firearms and came back.
My understanding is they were there.
Exactly where they retrieved
those weapons. I'm not sure,
but they had been at the event. Yes.
I'm sorry. The video,
the surveillance video,
that's actually make that clear.
Did that help that assisted?
Yes. Yes, ma'am. You
had officers there.
You were part of the
security plan for Como Fest.
You had officers in the area,
in the neighborhood for the
party that happened afterwards.
Why didn't you break up the
gathering that was in the
street in those after hours?
You know, that's a very good question.
I'm glad you asked that one.
This event has been going on for many
years and there have been different
methods of working with the Como
community to find a way to make sure
people can have a great time but
also be safe while they're there.
We had officers in the immediate area.
We had stay at some stage at other
locations for quick response to
any issues we might have had the.
Event we saw this year was much
like we what we saw last year
where we didn't see the violence.
This year,
unfortunately somebody chose to grab
a weapon and make it a violent situation.
One of the things we discussed
last night at the meeting at the
Como Community Center is how this
event needs to look going forward.
Changes will be made.
It's something we've discussed
internally and last night the Como
community made it loud and clear that
they won't be part of that discussion
and they want to see changes too.
So going forward,
we don't know exactly what
the events going to look like.
There will still be a parade on July 4th.
We're talking about the Como Fest event,
which happens prior to what you
saw in the footage.
It's been released,
but that after party,
if you will,
that's not going to look the same.
Will
those changes that
you apply to the Como Fest,
will those be applied to any
event throughout the city?
You know, just like.
Every community in the city of Fort Worth,
every community is unique.
Every festival,
every event we have is unique.
And what we do is look at each
specific event to see exactly how it
needs to be tailored for the safety
and enjoyment of everyone involved.
So we're not looking at blanket
changes across the board,
we're just looking where changes are needed.
And right now we're specifically
looking at what needs to happen in Como.
That I have not confirmed it, but
we're working to find out. Yeah, based
on the jail records,
their zip codes are not in Como.
So what do you say to the people in
Como who want to have these events,
who are concerned about people
coming into the community
and causing this violence?
How are you going to keep them safe?
That was another discussion we
had at the meeting last night.
It's been said over and over again.
OK, you have been listening live to Fort
Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes as he briefs
the media on the two arrests made after that
mass shooting that happened after Como Fest,
a celebration in the Como neighborhood
of Fort Worth on July 3rd.
Just to recap some of the new
information that the chief revealed,
he said he does believe that this
shooting was gang related.
He said he believes there was an
altercation before the shooting.
He also said that the two suspects
who are now in custody.
19 and 20 years old were at Como Fest.
He's not sure if they left,
went and got the guns and came back,
but he does say that they had
attended those celebrations.
He also said both of the suspects
are from Fort Worth.
So just to recap,
a 19 and 20 year old,
two men from Fort Worth.
They they are arrested.
They are charged with multiple counts of
murder for the shooting that happened in
the hours after Como Fest on July 3rd.
Three people were shot and killed.
Eight others were shot and wounded.
So a total of 11 people were
shot during that festival.
The police chief,
I want to leave you with this, also said.
There's the potential that
there could be other arrests,
he said.
He is confident that these
two suspects fired their guns,
but he said there's the possibility
that other people could have
fired their guns as well,
so the investigation does continue.