Sarah Mervosh and Mihir Zaveri

<h1>Authorities have charged a suspect with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, as an emotional case that moved the Houston community and evoked racial tensions nationwide took an unexpected turn on Sunday.</h1>

Authorities identified the suspect, Eric Black Jr., 20, and said he admitted to taking part in the Dec. 30 shooting.

Contrary to initial reports that the suspect was white, Black is black. It was a revelation that swiftly changed the narrative of a case that had drawn the attention of national civil rights activists amid speculation that the shooting was racially motivated.

Authorities believe that Black, along with an accomplice, thought they were shooting at someone else when they opened fire on Jazmine and her family, who were in a car on an early morning coffee run.

“This is most likely a case of mistaken identity,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County said at a news conference on Sunday.

But to civil rights activists, including Shaun King, who received the tip that led to the arrest, the race of the suspect did not upend the meaning of the case — for Jazmine’s family or for the country.

“We live in a time where somebody could do something like this based purely on hate or race,” he said on Sunday. “And that it turned out to not be the case I don’t think changes the devastating conclusion that people had thought something like that was possible.”

The tip named Black and another man, identified by prosecutors by the initials L.W. A lawyer for Jazmine’s family, Lee Merritt, named the second suspect as Larry Woodruffe, 24, who is also black. A man with that name was booked into the Harris County jail on Sunday on a drug possession charge.

At a hearing to set the bond amount in that case, prosecutors said that Woodruffe was also a suspect in a capital murder investigation.

Gonzalez acknowledged a second person was involved but would not comment on the identity. He said the second person had not been charged in Jazmine’s death as of Sunday afternoon, but said that charges could be filed.

This article originally appeared in <a id="f55f2655-7d18-4319-a475-d1bae6e2db09" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/us/jazmine-barnes-arrest.html">The New York Times</a>.

A twist in the Jazmine Barnes case as a suspect is charged with capital murder

“This is most likely a case of mistaken identity,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County said at a news conference on Sunday.

At a hearing to set the bond amount in that case, prosecutors said that Woodruffe was also a suspect in a capital murder investigation, and a judge noted that Woodruffe could possibly face additional charges.

Gonzalez acknowledged a second person was involved but would not comment on the identity. He said the second person had not been charged in Jazmine’s death as of Sunday afternoon, but said that charges could be filed. Lawyers for the men could not be immediately reached for comment on Sunday.

The capital murder charge filed against Black came after a weeklong search in a case that seemed to offer few clues. Jazmine was with her mother and three sisters just before 7 a.m. local time when, authorities said, a man in a truck pulled up beside them and began shooting. A bullet struck Jazmine in the head, and she died at the scene, authorities said.

Authorities released grainy images of a red pickup truck and a sketch of the suspect, describing him as a thin white man in his 30s or 40s.

Gonzalez said there was indeed a red pickup truck that came to a stop at a traffic signal next to Jazmine and her family, near a Walmart in the Houston area where the shooting happened. But authorities now believe that driver could be a witness to the shooting.

Jazmine was with her mother, LaPorsha Washington, and her sisters, including a 6-year-old and two teenagers, authorities said. Washington, who was injured in the shooting, told CNN she did not see the gunman but her teenage daughter described him as a white man with blue eyes.

“This just went down very quickly,” Gonzalez said. “When the gunfire erupted, we are talking about small children, they witnessed something very traumatic. And it’s very likely the last thing they did see was that red truck and the driver in that truck.”

Research has shown that stress levels and conditions at the time of a crime can undercut the accuracy of eyewitness identification. The sheriff and the family said the sun had not yet risen when the shooting happened.

“Eyewitness testimony is the least reliable evidence you can have,” said Lori Brown, a criminologist at Meredith College in North Carolina, who said that people generally try to understand how a traumatic event could have happened by using what they know about the world. “Unfortunately,” she said, “we fill in the gaps.”

After Jazmine’s killing, the public mobilized to help the family. On Saturday, the day before the arrest was announced, nearly 1,000 people gathered at a rally in Houston, clutching banners and shouting for justice for Jazmine, who was in second grade at a Houston-area school.

DeAndre Hopkins, a wide receiver for the Houston Texans, had pledged to donate his paycheck from this weekend’s playoff game, which amounts to $29,000, to help pay for Jazmine’s funeral. And King, a prominent racial justice activist and a columnist at The Intercept, had raised a $100,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest.

King, who has five children, including a 6-year-old daughter, said he did not get involved in the case because he thought the gunman was white.

“I internalized the pain of the family and tried to search as if it were my own child who was killed,” he said.

He said he would move forward with distributing the reward money to the anonymous tipster should the person claim it. “Whether it fits the direction people thought the case was going or not,” he said, “it took tremendous courage for somebody to report this.”

Merritt, the civil rights attorney who is representing the family, said he was glad that the racial implications of the case were taken seriously — and that Jazmine’s death got widespread attention.

But it “shouldn’t only be weaponized for political purposes when the suspected killer is white,” he said. “The whole movement of Black Lives Matter is about the attention and care that is given to people of color in the face of violence.”

Merritt said that while the arrest came as a surprise to Jazmine’s family, it also came as a relief, as they mourned and prepared for her burial on Tuesday.

“They didn’t want a white person to be prosecuted,” he said. “They wanted the right person to be prosecuted.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/us/jazmine-barnes-arrest.html" id="b77a2dee-e14c-30eb-a765-b24d111b9008">The New York Times</a>.

A Twist in the Jazmine Barnes Case as a Suspect Is Charged With Capital Murder

Authorities have charged a suspect with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, as an emotional case that moved the Houston community and evoked racial tensions nationwide took an unexpected turn on Sunday.

Authorities identified the man, Eric Black Jr., and said he admitted to taking part in the shooting, which happened on Dec. 30.

At a court hearing for Black early Sunday, a prosecutor said authorities had gotten a tip about Black and another man, identified by the initials L.W. On Instagram, a lawyer for Jazmine’s family, Lee Merritt, named the second suspect as Larry Woodruffe, 24. A man with that name was booked into the Harris County jail on Sunday on a drug possession charge.

The arrests came after a weeklong search in a case that, on its face, offered few clues: Officials were pursuing reports of a white man in a red pickup truck who pulled up alongside Jazmine and her family while they were driving to get coffee and then opened fire into their car.

The notion of a white man firing on the family and killing a black girl drew the attention of national civil rights activists and fueled speculation that the shooting was racially motivated. But the suspect arrested this weekend is black, and authorities said Jazmine’s family’s vehicle may have been targeted by mistake.

“All evidence gathered so far in the Jazmine Barnes Homicide case supports investigators’ strong belief that she and her family were innocent victims,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet Sunday.

The office had vowed to find Jazmine’s killer, using the hashtag #JusticeForJazmine, but had said it could not say whether the case was a hate crime. “We’re not ruling anything out and we’re not going to speculate,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said last week.

Merritt, the lawyer who is representing Jazmine’s family, acknowledged on Twitter that the men arrested did not fit the description of multiple witnesses or the sketch of the suspect released by authorities.

“It is difficult to understand how at least four independent witnesses mistook two black male suspects for one older white suspect,” he said. But he suggested that the man witnesses described could have been a bystander attempting to escape the shooting.

Merritt did not respond to requests for further comment on Sunday.

Jazmine was in the car with her mother and three sisters just before 7 a.m. when a man in a pickup truck pulled up beside them and began shooting. A bullet struck Jazmine in the head and she died at the scene, police said.

The initial description of the gunman as a white man was based on accounts of the shooting from the family, the sheriff’s office said at a news conference last week. Authorities released a sketch of the suspect, describing him as a thin white man in his 30s or 40s.

Research has shown that stress levels and conditions at the time of a crime can undercut the accuracy of eyewitness identification.

Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, who was injured in the shooting, previously told CNN that she and her daughters were still in their pajamas when they made a coffee run before sunrise. She said that she did not see the shooter, but that her teenage daughter did.

“I don’t know if it was some kind of violent hatred, if it was a hate crime, or what it was,” Washington said. “But you can plainly see through my windows. I have no tint on my windows or anything so you can see that it was a mother, a black mother, with four beautiful children, girls, in this car.”

After Jazmine’s killing, the public mobilized to help the family. Shaun King, a prominent racial justice activist and a columnist at The Intercept, had offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest. DeAndre Hopkins, a wide receiver for the Houston Texans, pledged to donate his paycheck from this weekend’s playoff game, which amounts to $29,000, to help pay for Jazmine’s funeral.

At a rally for Jazmine on Saturday, supporters clutched banners and artwork dedicated to Jazmine, who was in second grade at a Houston-area school. “No peace, no justice,” the crowd chanted. Many parents said the shooting had made them in fear of their own lives and those of their children.

It was unclear who was representing Black or Woodruffe. The Harris County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the court hearing for Black, a prosecutor said that an anonymous source had contacted authorities and said the men did not realize the vehicle they shot belonged to Jazmine and her family until they saw it on the news.

The prosecutor said Black told authorities that he had driven a rental vehicle during the shooting and that an accomplice had opened fire from the passenger side. Authorities recovered a pistol consistent with evidence at the scene, he said.

In a statement on Sunday, Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston thanked the public for an “outpouring of support from across the country.”

“It provided law enforcement with a sense of urgency and made Jazmine’s loved ones know they weren’t alone in their time of grief,” he said, adding: “It’s now my hope that justice will prevail and that Jazmine’s family will find some comfort knowing the alleged gunman is off the street.”

A 20-year-old man has been charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes in the Houston area last month, and police were pursuing at least one other suspect, authorities said on Sunday.

Suspect in Jazmine Barnes Shooting Is Charged With Capital Murder

Jazmine was in the car with her mother and three sisters around 7 a.m. when a man in a pickup truck pulled up beside them and began shooting. A bullet struck Jazmine in the head and she died at the scene, police said.

Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, who was injured in the shooting, has tried to make sense of her daughter’s death. “I have no tint on my windows or anything so you can see there is a mother — a black mother — with daughters, beautiful children,” Washington told CNN. “You took my baby from me and you have no care in the world.”

Merritt acknowledged on Twitter that the men arrested did not fit the description of multiple witnesses or the sketch of the suspect released by authorities.

“It provided law enforcement with a sense of urgency and made Jazmine’s loved ones know they weren’t alone in their time of grief,” he said.

The Torrance Police Department responded just before midnight to reports of shots fired at Gable House Bowl in Torrance, about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

Three men were pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and four more were injured. Two were taken to the hospital, and the others sought medical attention on their own.

A police spokesman said information about a suspect or motive was unavailable. Police did not identify the men who died.

One of the victims was identified by his sister as Michael Radford, 20.

Latrice Dumas said she was at the movies when her family called and said her brother had been shot. Dumas, 28, said she heard Radford was trying to protect his girlfriend, who had been accosted at the bowling alley.

“He always felt like he could be a protector,” Dumas said.

Radford grew up in Los Angeles, and worked in construction, she said.

She said he had a 7-month-old daughter.

Wesam Hamad, 29, was bowling with his 13-year-old niece and 32-year-old cousin near the entrance of the alley. He said a fight broke out within a group of about 10 men and women near the desk where bowlers check in. Hamad said there was a small arcade there, and he heard someone slam into one of the machines.

Gable House Bowl did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bowling alley offers glow bowling and laser tag, according to its website. Police said no bowling alley employees were injured.

The shooting set off renewed discussion about gun violence, as shootings continue to take place in public spaces, even in California, which has among the toughest gun laws in the nation. In November, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire at a country-music bar, the Borderline Bar &amp; Grill, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., killing 12 people.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said in a tweet that she was heartbroken for the victims of the bowling alley shooting and their loved ones.

“We must do more to address gun violence,” she said. “Americans should be able to go to a bowling alley and be safe.”

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/us/california-shooting-torrence.html" id="b2869301-d64b-3cff-a505-5392af8ee505">The New York Times</a>.

Three people were killed and four others were injured in a shooting at a bowling alley in Torrance, California, late Friday night, police said.

Bowling Alley Shooting in California Leaves 3 Dead and 4 Injured

The Torrance Police Department responded just before midnight to reports of shots fired at Gable House Bowl in Torrance, which is about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

The sister, Latrice Dumas, said she was at the movies when her family called and said her brother had been shot. Dumas, 28, said she heard Radford was trying to protect his girlfriend, who had been accosted at the bowling alley.

She said his death was “tearing” her family apart. Radford grew up in Los Angeles, and worked in construction, she said, adding that he wanted to be an auto mechanic or a mathematician.

“Who did this to my brother?” she asked. “It’s just crazy.”

Wesam Hamad, 29, was bowling with his 13-year-old niece and 32-year-old cousin near the entrance of the alley. He said a fight broke out within a group of about 10 men and women behind their lane, near the desk where bowlers check in. Hamad said there was a small arcade there, and he heard someone slam into one of the machines.

He told his niece to leave and as they were walking, they heard a series of about 15 gunshots. He ran to the other end of the alley with his niece and his cousin, and they dove behind some couches.

“I still had my bowling ball in my hand. I held my bowling ball behind my niece’s head just in case something ricocheted,” Hamad said. “We’re just lucky to be alive. I’m still in shock.”

Gable House Bowl did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bowling alley offers glow bowling and laser tag, according to its website. The police said no bowling alley employees were injured.

Damone Thomas said in a Facebook video that he witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. He said he was enjoying karaoke when he said people rushed into his area and shouted “gunshot, gunshot, gunshot, gunshot.”

“To realize that the space was invaded, just by one simple thing: a gun,” he said. “How do we get over this? Where can we go? We see it happening in the church, we see it happening in the schools, now it’s happening in the karaoke. It’s happening everywhere, so what can we do? Where can we go?”

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Sarah Mervosh and Mihir Zaveri

Articles written by the author

A twist in the Jazmine Barnes case as a suspect is charged with capital murder

A Twist in the Jazmine Barnes Case as a Suspect Is Charged With Capital Murder

Suspect in Jazmine Barnes Shooting Is Charged With Capital Murder

Suspect in Jazmine Barnes Shooting Is Charged With Capital Murder

Suspect in Jazmine Barnes Shooting Is Charged With Capital Murder

Bowling Alley Shooting in California Leaves 3 Dead and 4 Injured

Bowling Alley Shooting in California Leaves 3 Dead and 4 Injured