Deputy Editor
Two individuals died and five more were injured in a shooting on Saturday night outside Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Law enforcement authorities have arrested 34-year-old Keryan Jones. They charged him with two counts of capital murder and five counts of third-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
The shooting reportedly occurred around 11:45 p.m. in the parking lot of the casino. A witness said she heard about 12 shots fired.
Authorities identified Marcus Antley and Alicia Sanchez as the victims who died. Antley was a retired U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent.
Texas lacks commercial casinos but is home to two Class II tribal casinos — and possibly a third, soon. Meanwhile, poker players in the state have social cardrooms as their only option, some of which have likewise experienced violent incidents.
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Texas authorities combined forces with the FBI to track down Jones and apprehend him.
They caught up with him near Stockdale, a small town just outside of San Antonio that’s about a three-hour drive from Eagle Pass. Eagle Pass is located about 150 miles to the southwest of San Antonio.
There, they opened fire on Jones’ vehicle, disabling it. Then, they subdued him with a taser and arrested him.
“We are heartbroken about the violence that occurred at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino,” the Kickapoo Tribe, which owns Lucky Eagle, said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Maverick County Sheriff’s Department, Eagle Pass Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety all of whom responded to this terrible accident.”
Texas Tribe Granted Permission To Develop Casino Near Houston
While Texas doesn’t have any state-regulated casinos, it does have a handful of tribal properties. One outlet described Lucky Eagle as “the state’s largest casino,” home to “3,300 slot machines, live poker, bingo, multiple restaurants and bars, and a 249-room hotel.”
Another Texas tribe has also received clearance to open a casino not far from Houston, the first of its kind that won’t be located on officially designated reservation land.
The National Indian Gaming Commission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs agreed that the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe can open Naskila Casino Resort. They’ll build the casino in Leggett, an unincorporated community located about 75 minutes north of Houston.
The prospective casino location is on land that has been held in trust by the Department of the Interior on behalf of the Tribe. State laws don’t apply to land under federal jurisdiction. That gives the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe clearance to develop the casino.
A spokesperson described the Tribe as “very excited” and noted that the casino will produce jobs and local taxes.
Image credit: J.R. Ramos/Wikimedia Commons (license)
