EDMOND, Okla. — Police announced Wednesday that an 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting that left one woman dead and 22 other people wounded during a nighttime party beside an Oklahoma lake.
Police in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond said the man was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after the Sunday night shooting, which erupted following an argument amid a large crowd gathered at a popular recreational lake there.
The man, Jaylan A. Davis, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and the charge will be upgraded to felony murder, Edmond Police Chief J.D. Younger said at a news conference.
It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. Davis, of Oklahoma City, was being held at the Edmond jail on a $1 million bond, officials and records showed.
An 18-year-old woman was killed and others suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds from the shooting at Arcadia Lake, a boating, fishing and swimming spot in the suburb just north of Oklahoma City. Six of the victims are juveniles, some as young as 15, Younger said.
Davis turned himself in Wednesday morning after police produced an arrest warrant, Younger said. Though Davis was initially facing a charge of assault with deadly weapon, the chief said police were in the process of upgrading that charge to felony murder after the young woman’s death.
“We’re trying to find justice for 23 people that were shot, one that’s deceased and even the people that were involved. I think it’s important not to demonize or separate the parties here,” Younger said.
He said multiple people discharged weapons and that there were more than 80 rounds fired. Police think there’s at least one more suspect, the chief added.
The party had been promoted across social media and drew a large crowd of mostly young adults from around the Oklahoma City area. Detectives believe the incident began with an argument between two women attending the gathering and escalated into an altercation between rival gang members, the police chief said.
The shooting broke out as officers were responding to a noise complaint about the party, police had said previously. They noted that organizers hadn’t sought the necessary reservations for such an event.