A fight inside a barn at a Halloween party in Matagorda County turned into a shooting early Sunday that left a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old seriously injured. Both are expected to recover, but the 17-year-old accused of opening fire on a crowd of fleeing teenagers is still being hunted by authorities.
According to Click2Houston, investigators said a group of teenagers from Bay City arrived at the party and a fight broke out inside a barn on the property. Large groups of teenagers then began leaving the area in the chaos that followed, the outlet reported.
It was during that exodus, investigators said, that the suspect — identified as 17-year-old Allen I. Dunlap of Bay City — allegedly pulled out a gun and started shooting into the crowd. A 16-year-old and a 19-year-old were both struck by gunfire, per the same account, and friends of the victims rushed them to the hospital before both were confirmed to be in serious but stable condition.
Suspect Still at Large on Two Warrants
Investigators have obtained two warrants charging Dunlap with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one for each victim, according to the Victoria Advocate. The Matagorda County Sheriff's Office says it is actively searching for the teen, who remains wanted on both counts.
The newspaper reports that the sheriff's office investigated the shooting with assistance from the Texas Rangers and the Matagorda County District Attorney's Office. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Robert Pierce or Sgt. Keith Majors at the Matagorda County Sheriff's Office at 979-245-5526, the station's report notes.
Part of a Violent Halloween Weekend Nationwide
The Matagorda County shooting was one of several violent incidents tied to Halloween weekend gatherings across the country. A USA Today report found that at least 15 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in shootings across 11 states over the holiday weekend.
Among those incidents, USA Today reported that a 17-year-old girl was killed and eight others wounded when an unknown person opened fire from a neighboring property into a crowd at an outdoor Halloween party in Ellendale, Delaware, on Halloween night. The same report said two separate Halloween party shootings in Jacksonville, Florida, left a 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man dead and at least 11 others injured, while three shootings in Dallas's Deep Ellum district killed four people and injured 15 others over roughly 75 minutes, with authorities saying there was no indication the incidents were connected.
Gun violence at teen and young-adult gatherings has also struck closer to home in recent years. Click2Houston reported that a boy was killed and a girl hospitalized after a shooting during a block party in Houston's Sunnyside area last November, and the outlet separately reported that a man died after a shooting at a Halloween party in southwest Houston in October 2024.
No charges have been reported against anyone in the Matagorda County case beyond the two warrants issued for Dunlap, and his whereabouts remained unknown as the search continued.
