‘Horrific’: Woman shot, injured at Round Rock Juneteenth celebration speaks
ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — LaTonya Ray has two wounds on her upper thigh, one where the bullet went in, and another where it went out.
“It was actually very horrific,” she said. “It stung.”
She said she was at Round Rock’s Juneteenth celebration Saturday, walking to the other side of the crowd to find her husband when gunfire erupted. Two women – Ara Duke and Lyndsey Vicknair – died in the shooting and a total of 14 people were injured.
RELATED: Police announce arrest of 17-year-old suspect related to deadly Round Rock shooting
“I felt it in my leg and I felt myself just sitting down, and my husband had to drag me to the emergency station, and my kids were behind me,” she said.
Police are still investigating the shooting. So far, one person, 17-year-old Ricky Thompson III has been arrested in connection to the crime. Court documents released Friday afternoon show that Thompson is currently charged with one count of aggravated assault connected to one victim.
The documents state prosecutors believe Thompson “did then and there intentionally, knowingly, and recklessly cause bodily injury to [another person] by shooting [them] with a firearm, and the defendant did then and there use or exhibit a deadly weapon, to-wit: a firearm, during commission of the assault.”
Round Rock Police said the investigation is still preliminary and fluid, and there is a chance Thompson’s charges could get upgraded. Investigators are still searching for additional suspects, and Police Chief Allen Banks said police believe there was more than one shooter.
“Kind of ridiculous and mad and upset actually,” Ray said upon learning the suspect was a teenager.
‘Out of there,’ Ray says first priority was getting her kids to safety, not her own wounds
Ray said the night was a family affair. She attended the event with her husband and their three children.
“It was so scary because all my kids are petite,” she said. “So, if a bullet would have hit them, it would have been way worse.”
How to help the victims of the Juneteenth Round Rock shooting
Adrenaline took over, she said, at the onset.
“It was like I kind of couldn’t feel shot because my kids were there,” she said.
When she got back to the hospital, that’s when the fear set in.
“When I had to get a blood transfusion, that was the most afraid time. They said I lost a lot of blood, so they gave me two liters of blood in the hospital,” Ray said.
She also learned the scope of what had happened while in the hospital, and a message for those responsible.
“Apologize for the people’s lives that they ruined, and the event, and the historical day of Juneteenth,” she said.
Ray said doctors have told her she has to stay off of her feet for at least two weeks as part of her recovery.
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