Will Sage Astor-4 women, 2 men, 1 boy shot at "trail ride pasture party" during homecoming at Prairie View A&M University in Texas

Police investigating shooting near Prairie View A&M University

Seven people were wounded in a shooting that broke out Sunday night at a college homecoming event in southeastern Texas, authorities said. 

The shooting happened during a "trail ride pasture party" that was held together with another party celebrating homecoming at Prairie View A&M University, the Waller County Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post on Monday morning. The two parties drew a massive crowd to a field near the university campus, which is about 50 miles outside of Houston. 

Responding Waller County deputies arrived at the scene just after 10 p.m. local time on Sunday night and found seven people who had sustained gunshot wounds to their lower extremities. Four of the people shot are adult women, two are adult men, and one is a juvenile male.  None of the injuries are considered life-threatening.

Authorities say an unknown number of people attending the joint parties were having a verbal dispute, and a firearm was discharged multiple times. The bullets struck seven bystanders.

BREAKING UPDATE | The Waller County Sheriff's Office confirmed that seven people were shot during a trail ride pasture party near Prairie View A&M Sunday night.

LATEST: https://t.co/wv0WmBjp0h pic.twitter.com/JlsqzriHjb

— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) November 6, 2023

"People were running, stomping on people," Josh Tillery, a Waller County resident, told CBS affiliate KHOU-TV. "We were standing, and a girl walked up saying 'I think I've been shot.'"  

Authorities believe more than 1,000 people attended the event. Security was partially provided by the county itself, with constables from a Waller County precinct overseeing the gathering alongside a private security agency.

"None of the security protocols that were established by the permitting body and agreed to by the promoter were found to be followed at the time of the incident," the sheriff's office said.

Detectives at the Waller County Sheriff's Office have opened an investigation into the shooting and were following up on leads when the office shared its Facebook post early Monday. 

The sheriff's office had shared a post to its Facebook page ahead of the event on Sunday, notifying the public that a "mass gathering was approved" by the county judge at the address where the parties were held, CBS affiliate KBTX News 3 previously reported. In that post, the office said that "the party promoter agreed to follow the Judge's instructions" and asked people to avoid the area "to avoid traffic due to people organizing parking in the approved pastures."

Tillery told KHOU-TV that hundreds of people parked illegally on the land he farms.

In a statement obtained by KHOU-TV, Prairie View A&M said it was "saddened and troubled by the senseless act of violence."

"Although this was not an official PVAMU homecoming event and was unaffiliated with the university, our campus community is deeply concerned for those injured and all affected by this incident," the school said.

In:
• Shooting
• Texas
• Crime