JASPER COUNTY, Texas — The owner of a Jasper County home where an after-prom party shooting that injured nine teens took place speaks out as deputies continue to investigate the incident.
Deputies believe about 250 teens from Jasper and Kirbyville were at the party when the shooting happened early Sunday morning. Both schools held proms on Saturday night.
"What was supposed to be the most wonderful night of these kids' life greatly affected them and it will be something they never forgot, in not a positive way," Jasper County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Karli Cherry said.
Several of the wounded were former and current Jasper High School students, according to Jasper ISD superintendent John Seybold in a letter to parents on Sunday.
The homeowner tells 12News she felt proud her house was once a place where parents felt safe sending their kids to, but now even she is scared that the shooter may come back.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: In order to protect her identity, 12News will not be sharing the homeowner's name.)
"Every time I close my eyes, I hear the gunshots, I hear the screams," she said. "They were dancing, singing, talking, socializing in the yard just having a good time."
The homeowner was present when the celebration turned into chaos and bullets started flying.
"I was trying to get all the kids out of here. It was just panic," she said.
It was at this moment she says she turned her attention to the gunman.
"When they were all running out, I ran in. I was trying to find the shooter. I was trying to see where it was coming from, I just wanted it to stop," she said.
At the property, there is still blood visible on a piece of tarp and piles of shoes from the teens rushing to safety.
"I never saw a gun. I never saw a person with a gun. I think there might have been somebody here that somebody had issues with," the homeowner said.
The homeowner's son goes to Jasper High School. She says he wanted to throw an end-of-the-year gathering for his classmates.
"He has such a good spirit and for this to happen, it's broken him," she said.
The homeowner says she's been working with investigators by helping them find and share videos from party-goers.
In addition to added security at Jasper High School this week, the district is providing counselors to all students across the entire district, he said in the letter.
The district has also made arrangements for counselors to be available to parents of students, Seybold said.
A home and a parked vehicle that were struck by gunfire in the City of Jasper, about five miles away, sometime early Sunday may be connected to the shooting at the party, Cherry told 12News on Monday.
The vehicles involved in the shooting in the city were also at the party on County Road 263 Cherry said. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Shana Clark told 12News they found two cars from the second shooting abandoned in Jasper County.
Those vehicles are being processed.
In the second shooting Jasper Police say that bullets hit a home and a vehicle in the area of Bevil Loop and Valley Dr. The homeowner found the bullet holes after he woke up and then called police.
Jasper Police investigators say they believe that two or more vehicles were chasing each other on Bevil Loop as the occupants exchanged gunfire. No one was injured police said in a Monday morning news release.
There are no official suspects at this time but Jasper County investigators are busy Monday following leads in the after-prom shooting, Cherry said Monday afternoon.
"I will say that most of the people that we've talked to have been very cooperative," Cherry said of witnesses that investigators are talking to.
"They want the investigation to come full circle and they are working very well with us right now," she said.
Deputies said on Sunday that they had "persons of interest" they want to speak to about the shooting.
Cherry expects investigators to have more updates available for the public on Tuesday.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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