IRVING, Texas -- Police arrested the last of five members of a Dallas gang Thursday suspect in a shooting that killed an innocent bystander and wounded two teens at a crowded suburban mall.
Irving police Capt. Travis Hall the fifth suspect, an 18-year-old, was taken into custody late Thursday afternoon in the slaying of Kevin Bacon. Bacon, 37, was struck in the right temple by a stray bullet as he sat down to eat pizza with his wife and two young daughters Monday night at the Irving Mall.
The man joined two adults and two juveniles being held by police.
'It's our intention to charge them all with murder, and to charge them with engaging in organized crime as members of a street gang,' Hall said. 'We will file with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and will try to certify them all as adults.'
Hall indicated that investigators had found a 9mm semi-automatic weapon, believed to be the gun used.
Police spokeswoman Sydney Gomez said earlier that the five suspects, ages 15, 16, 17 and 18, are members of a Dallas gang. She said they were identified with the help of witnesses who saw the shooting in the food court of the mall crowded with post-Christmas shoppers.
Gomez said the two adults were arraigned late Thursday. George Anthony Salinas, 18, was charged with one count of murder and his bond was set at $500,000. Sammy Benavidez, 17, of Dallas, was charged with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and his bond was set at $75,000.
Police said the 16-year-old juvenile was the triggerman. The juveniles were not identified because of their age.
'These guys are gang members, but whether the shooting was actually gang related is uncertain,' Gomez said. 'They (the suspects) may have shown a gang sign.'
The shooting erupted after a dispute between the five suspects and the two teens who were wounded, Gomez said.
'From what we have heard, an escalator was not working. They were going in different directions, and one group would not move,' she said.
Gomez said the 16-year-old fired three shots from a 9mm automatic pistol. She said the other suspects were there at the time or involved in some other way.
Gomez said an informant and the Dallas police gang unit aided in the investigation. She said witnesses to the shooting also helped identify some of the suspects through photos.
Security has been increased at the mall since the shooting.
One of the youths wounded in the shooting, Richard Damon Clark, 18, remained in Parkland Memorial Hospital in fair condition with a stomach wound. The second, Christopher Deon Bagley, 19, was treated for a leg wound and released.
