Suspect arrested in shooting that killed 1 person and injured 2 at La Gran Plaza: Fort Worth police

A 19-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the October 12 shooting at La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth One person was killed and two more were injured, officials said.

Xavier Evans was booked into the Fort Worth City Jail on Wednesday, November 13. According to police, he is charged with murder.

According to Evans’ arrest warrant affidavit, a fight occurred after a football game Herman Clark Stadium the night of October 11. Dunbar High School from Fort Worth played Benbrook High in the stadium that evening. A person involved in the fight then went to Club LV in the La Gran Plaza shopping center, the warrant states.

As he left the nightclub, that person got into another argument with the same people he had fought with during the football game, police said. According to the affidavit, a mall security guard used a mace to disperse the fight.

The person involved in the fight was with a large group of people at the rear of the parking lot. About 2:15 a.m., someone got out of a black Dodge Durango and fired several shots into the crowd, the affidavit said.

Police believe a person involved in the fight was the intended target, but another man was seriously injured in the shooting and died at a local hospital. The victim has been identified as 41-year-old Diago Franchez Jones.

In one online obituaryJones’ family wrote that he was “a man whose spirit was as warm and strong as the Texas sun.” According to the obituary, Jones was a member of Salem Missionary Baptist Church, a graduate of Dunbar High School, an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and a devoted father of two.

Jones leaves behind “a community that will deeply feel his absence, especially on the East Side where his presence was always felt,” the obituary said.

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Two more people were injured in the shooting, police said.

Detectives identified the suspect vehicle linked to the shooting and obtained surveillance video showing the driver and a female passenger inside a store. Investigators were able to identify the driver by comparing his image in the video to police reports and social media accounts, the affidavit said.

Information about the suspect car and driver was passed on to the Fort Worth Police Department’s Operations and Surveillance team. According to the statement, they learned that the person in question was now driving a green Alfa Romero.

Police conducted a traffic stop on the Romero and arrested three people, including Evans, on unrelated charges. One of them told investigators he had been driving the black Dodge Durango the night of the shooting, the affidavit said.

The driver said he was involved in the altercation at Club LV, and that he then drove around and picked up several people. He told police that one of his passengers got out of the vehicle and fired shots, the affidavit said.

Evans told investigators he was at Club LV but left in a black truck. He said he was outside when the fight occurred, the affidavit said. He denied having Facebook and Instagram accounts, but a detective found a Facebook profile of Evans, which showed the 19-year-old with firearms.

A second interview was conducted with the driver of the Dodge Durango. He admitted to police that someone named “Chopper” was in the backseat, got out and started shooting. When investigators showed him a photo of Evans, he identified him as “Chopper,” the affidavit said.

Surveillance video from the La Gran Plaza area shows someone matching Evans’ description coming from the area of ​​the fight and getting into the suspect vehicle. You see the Durango driving through the parking lot.

At 2:13 a.m., 10 flashes or gunshots are seen from the outside of the Durango. The shots came from the area closest to the left rear seat where Evans had been sitting, the affidavit said.

As of Thursday, November 14, Evans remained in the Tarrant County Jail on a $250,000 bond.