A beach party at Surfside erupts in shooting. At least one dead and three shot.
Brazoria County Sheriff Charles Wagner said one person was killed and three were wounded during the violence at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The wounded were taken by medical helicopter to area hospitals, Wagner said. No names were available at 11 p.m. Saturday.
“We have one confirmed dead,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out what happened and where it happened.”
Party-goers brought victims by car to the Surfside Beach Police Department for medical treatment, he said.
Roads in and out of Surfside Beach were jammed with thousands of people flooding the island village for what is touted on the Internet as the Texas Beach Party. Surfside Beach Mayor Larry Davison said the party was not permitted or authorized, calling it an Internet hoax.
“They didn’t have a permit, and they gave City Hall as the address,” Davison said. “They advertised it as a free DJ beach party.”
Members of Kappa Alpha Psi posted on Twitter late Saturday that the fraternity is not associated with Texas Beach Party. The long-running Kappa Beach Party, or “Kappa Weekend” in Galveston was canceled in 2009 because of dwindling numbers over previous years, according to a story in The Galveston Daily News that year. The event started in the 1980s and once brought thousands of young people to the beach, gridlocking Galveston traffic and the Gulf Freeway.
The Bucee’s beach store had been closed, its parking lot cordoned off.
Wagner said the investigation would continue well into Sunday morning.
“We’re still trying to put it all together,” he said. “We’re still trying to get people off the beach and sort out what happened.”
