Two 18-year-olds killed in Mesquite shooting; man wounded

Two 18-year-old Mesquite residents died and a 20-year-old man was wounded in a shooting early Oct. 14 on Amber Springs Drive, police said. Officers responded at about 12:07 a.m. to the 2200 block of the street.

Officers found two males with apparent gunshot wounds and began lifesaving measures, including CPR, according to the Mesquite Police Department. They took both to Baylor Hospital, where they died. Police said the two were Mesquite residents and withheld their names pending notification of next of kin.

A 20-year-old man with gunshot wounds arrived separately at a local emergency room. Police said investigators believed he was involved in the same incident and described his injuries as non-life-threatening. Police did not identify him in their account.

Police corrected the reported location

Police said the shooting was initially reported in the 2800 block of Clearwater Drive. Investigators later determined it happened in the 2200 block of Amber Springs Drive, where officers responded.

The department described its account of what led to the shooting as preliminary. It said a dispute involving family members escalated into a physical altercation, firearms were produced and shots were fired. FOX 4 reported that officials described people involved as including siblings, in-laws, family friends and a godparent; the full sequence of events and each person’s role had not been established in the public accounts.

FOX 4 also reported that Lt. Michael Kelly said the initial argument was apparently over a child’s haircut. That was an early account attributed to Kelly, not a confirmed motive. Police said the circumstances remained under investigation.

Detectives were still determining who fired

Mesquite police characterized the case as an active homicide investigation. An Oct. 15 morning report by Audacy/KRLD said no arrests had been announced as of its publication. The report quoted Kelly saying detectives were working to determine who discharged a firearm and whether charges were warranted.

Neither that report nor the police account identified a person as the shooter or reported charges. Police said further information would be released as it became available.