Formal charges were filed in Desha County Circuit Court Friday against one suspect involved in the March 19th shooting at the Dumas Hood-Nic car show. According to court records, Brandon Deandra Knight, age 22 of North Little Rock, has been formally charged with battery first degree and aggravated assault. Knight was originally taken into custody when he was released from Delta Memorial Hospital on March 23rd after being treated for injuries that occurred during the shooting.
A total of 26 people were injured on the day of the shooting and 23-year-old Cameron Shaffer of Jacksonville was killed. Victims included children ranging in age from 19 months to 11 years old.
According to Arkansas State Police investigative reports filed in court, investigators originally interviewed Knight at JRMC on March 19th. During the interview, Knight said he was in line for the food truck, but the line was long so he and his friends decided to walk to McDonald's.
Police reports said that according to Knight, he turned around and saw someone with a black backpack getting "jacked up." He told authorities someone then pulled a gun and began shooting, but denied seeing the shooter, claiming he only saw flashes and tried to run.
Police reports said that several days later, they received information from a juvenile witness who saw a light skinned black male in line at the food truck with two braids on the back of his head, wearing jogging pants and a beanie on his head. The juvenile told investigators he saw the man pull a gray pistol and begin shooting. The witness said he heard at least six shots. Police said that at the hospital, the juvenile witness identified Knight as the shooter and Knight matched the description of the shooter provided by the juvenile.
Investigators interviewed Knight at JRMC a second time and Knight admitted that on the night of the shooting, he did have two braids in his hair. He told police he had ridden to Dumas with a man named Kaleb Daniel and Cameron Shaffer who was later killed in the shooting.
During the interview, Knight claimed they were walking from the food truck line to go to McDonald's, Kaleb fell backwards, and he saw someone attempting to take Kaleb's backpack off of him and had a gun to his leg. Knight said the man shot Kaleb so he reached for his own gun. Knight claims the man then shot him in the chest area so he returned fire multiple times.
Knight said he realized he was shot in the arm, dropped his brown Glock, and ran. He said he and Kaleb then ran to Cameron's car and they were taken to Delta Memorial Hospital in a police car.
According to investigative reports, Knight said, "I know there was a lot of kids out there. I seen the kids in the hospital, and it hurt.”
Investigators said a tan colored 40 caliber Glock pistol with a black extended magazine was found at the scene. The gun contained one live round in the chamber and two live rounds in the magazine. Seventeen spent 40 caliber casings were found on the scene.
Knight is being held on a $100,000 bond and his next court appearance is set for August 8th.
