UPDATE:
COTTON VALLEY, La. -- Webster Parish sheriff's deputies have made an arrest in a trail ride event Saturday night that left three people shot.
Kentrail "Turtle" Cornelius has been charged with illegal use of a weapon. He's held on a $150,000 bond.
A 17-year-old Minden High student was shot in the back but is recovering in the hospital. A man and women were each shot in the arm, treated and released.
Trash litters the grounds where a trail ride was held over the weekend on Crow Street in Cotton Valley.
Sheriff Jason Parker said the shots were fired after two females got into a fight at the event site in Cotton Valley. Multiple weapons were found on site after the crowd was dispersed.
The violent end to the trail ride comes as similar events have come under scrutiny in several parts of the community.
The Bossier and DeSoto police juries have tightened up their laws related to security and attendance at special events. That came after a trail ride crowd last year overwhelmed the small village of Grand Cane and left one man shot.
Parker supports those who sponsor fun family events. But he and some of the other sheriffs have noted some of the trail rides have moved away from the traditional horse-riding activity and into money-making concerts that can draw hundreds or thousands of people without adequate security or space for the event.
"We don't want to discourage anybody from getting together and fellowshipping and having a good time, but when you have this many folks coming into the parish at one time and it just seems to be a bad mixture of the people from outside the parish or they may have a conflict with somebody else, I mean this shooting started with two females getting into a fight," Parker said.
In other areas, violence at trail rides have left multiple people hurt and some dead.
In June, a trail ride in Smith County, Texas, ended when five people – including a 13-year-old -- were shot following a fight at the concert that followed the ride. As a result, Smith County is in the development stage of putting together a multiple agency approval process for future events.
In April, 11 people were shot and one was killed at a trail ride event held in a remote area near Dallas, Texas.
A 21-year-old woman was killed in August 2020 during a trail ride event just outside of Roseland in Tangipahoa Parish. In 2018, a Louisiana man was shot to death at a trail ride site near Oakdale.
The Webster Parish Police Jury's special events permit requires organizers to apply for a permit at least 30 days prior to the event. It requires comprehensive information with a multi-agency approval process, including sign-off by the Police Jury, sheriff's office, fire district, EMS and office of public health.
An application was not submitted for Saturday night's event on Crow Lane.
"These property owners have got to understand the civil liability that they're under when they host these events. Of course, when people go onto other people's property they're charging them $15 of $20 a person to get through, it's a money making deal for them. But, they need to realize the civil liability on them is tremendous," Parker said.
ORIGINAL STORY:
COTTON VALLEY, La. -- Three people were shot Saturday night at an unpermitted trail ride in Cotton Valley, Sheriff Jason Parker said.
A 17-year-old female Minden High School student initially was in critical condition after being shot in the back. By Sunday, she was awake and speaking with investigators.
The other two victims, one male and female, were released from the hospital after both being shot in the arm, Parker said.
According to Parker, shots were fired after two females started fighting.
The sheriff's office was notified about the shooting shortly after 9:30 p.m. There were so many people crowding the event site that deputies and the ambulance crew had difficulties reaching the injured people, he said.
Webster patrol deputies and investigators were still on the scene at 11:30 p.m. State troopers and Claiborne Parish sheriff's deputies assisted.
Deputies have recovered multiple weapons and shell casings. Parker is unsure how many shots were fired.
He also didn't know how many people were in attendance at the event since organizers did not get the required permit from the parish. The event site was on Crow Street in Cotton Valley; however, the property also extends beyond the town's city limits and into the parish, which requires a permit, Parker said.
"The sheriff's office was not informed," Parker said, adding that the Cotton Valley police chief said he only learned about it Friday.
Parker said he's had conversations with the property owner on previous occasions, informing him of the permit requirement. Other small, more traditional trail rides have been held there without incident.
Since the event was not permitted, Parker said he did not know if organizers had private security on site.
"Somebody will be held responsible for allowing this to happen," Parker said.
