Posted 4:37 am Saturday, December 29, 2007
Three Arrested In Gang-Style Shooting
By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer
CUNEY - Three men are behind bars and more arrests may be coming in relation to a gang-style shooting at a Cuney liquor store on Christmas Eve.
Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell said two groups of friends had been feuding for several weeks before the shooting took place. He emphasized that the men aren't known gang members, and said fights between the two groups of friends landed at least one man in the hospital on Dec. 22.
The Dec. 22 fight was the catalyst for Monday's shootings, Campbell said. Witnesses told sheriff's investigators that six to 10 individuals were involved in that fight at a convenience store on Farm-to-Market Road 346. Several men from the Tyler area excha-nged blows with others from Cuney, and the fight resulted in a Bullard man being sent to the hospital.
Campbell said that all day Monday, members of both groups argued and sent messages back and forth on their cell phones. Investigators have been able to gather that the groups agreed to meet in front of the Arun Rise Liquor Store, on State Highway 175 in Cuney, to settle their differences.
Investigators said that as the Tyler-area friends pulled in front of the liquor store around 10 a.m., they were fired upon from several directions. Two of the four vehicles driven by the Tyler-area men were shot up, receiving at least half-a-dozen bullet holes each.
"It was a very dangerous situation," Campbell said. "There are lots of people and lots of traffic on the highway. There could easily have been a fatality."
Joshua Freeze, 18, of Whitehouse, was in one car and was shot in the legs. Jonathan Ray, 18, of Bullard, was in the second car and also received gunshot wounds to the legs. The men were treated and released from separate hospitals in Jacksonville and Tyler.
Officers received enough information Monday to make two arrests in connection with the shooting. Around 8 p.m., officers arrested Quincey Allen, 22, and Jeffrey Rainey, 43, at a residence in Cuney. Another man at the residence, Gary Allen, was taken into custody for evading arrest, a class B misdemeanor.
Both Quincey Allen and Rainey face a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They remain in the Cherokee County Jail, each on a $20,000 bond.
Campbell said investigators are still interviewing witnesses and plan to make more arrests in this case.
Staff Writer
CUNEY - Three men are behind bars and more arrests may be coming in relation to a gang-style shooting at a Cuney liquor store on Christmas Eve.
Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell said two groups of friends had been feuding for several weeks before the shooting took place. He emphasized that the men aren't known gang members, and said fights between the two groups of friends landed at least one man in the hospital on Dec. 22.
The Dec. 22 fight was the catalyst for Monday's shootings, Campbell said. Witnesses told sheriff's investigators that six to 10 individuals were involved in that fight at a convenience store on Farm-to-Market Road 346. Several men from the Tyler area excha-nged blows with others from Cuney, and the fight resulted in a Bullard man being sent to the hospital.
Campbell said that all day Monday, members of both groups argued and sent messages back and forth on their cell phones. Investigators have been able to gather that the groups agreed to meet in front of the Arun Rise Liquor Store, on State Highway 175 in Cuney, to settle their differences.
Investigators said that as the Tyler-area friends pulled in front of the liquor store around 10 a.m., they were fired upon from several directions. Two of the four vehicles driven by the Tyler-area men were shot up, receiving at least half-a-dozen bullet holes each.
"It was a very dangerous situation," Campbell said. "There are lots of people and lots of traffic on the highway. There could easily have been a fatality."
Joshua Freeze, 18, of Whitehouse, was in one car and was shot in the legs. Jonathan Ray, 18, of Bullard, was in the second car and also received gunshot wounds to the legs. The men were treated and released from separate hospitals in Jacksonville and Tyler.
Officers received enough information Monday to make two arrests in connection with the shooting. Around 8 p.m., officers arrested Quincey Allen, 22, and Jeffrey Rainey, 43, at a residence in Cuney. Another man at the residence, Gary Allen, was taken into custody for evading arrest, a class B misdemeanor.
Both Quincey Allen and Rainey face a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They remain in the Cherokee County Jail, each on a $20,000 bond.
Campbell said investigators are still interviewing witnesses and plan to make more arrests in this case.
