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Police say shooting victim had a gun
Published October 25, 2009
SEGUIN — The man who was shot and later died after an Oct. 16 confrontation was believed by police to be holding a loaded handgun — and aiming it in the direction of an Anderson Street home, court documents reveal.
Saturday, the arrest total in connection with the investigation into the shooting death of Garland Craig Taylor, 20, had risen to 9 — although no one has been charged with the actual shooting itself.
Seguin Police Chief Kevin Kelso, who said authorities believe the incident was gang related, has identified the second gang involved in the confrontation as the Mexican Mafia and says more arrests are likely.
Kelso said with authorities believing the Crips and the Mexican Mafia were involved investigating the case has been difficult.
“Detectives have been working relentlessly around the clock since the shooting of Garland Taylor,” Kelso said. “The reason it is difficult is because witnesses and bystanders are extremely reluctant to talk due to the fear of being retaliated against.”
The Seguin Police Department, the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office and 25th Judicial District Attorney Heather Hollub’s office has quietly waged a months-long war on local gang activity in the wake of incidents that took place a year ago and others that occurred last spring, which included alleged aggravated assaults and an alleged sexual assault.
The effort that has so far involved a number of felony arrests could move into a whole new arena in coming months as Hollub and other officials evaluate civil as well as criminal legal sanctions in an effort to suppress dangerous crime associated with gangs.
Kelso said Friday he appreciated the support of Sheriff Arnold Zwicke and Hollub.
Officials say the Oct. 16 incident in the 900 block of Anderson Street brought a brewing gang war out into the open — forcing the SPD to become very visible in its effort to intervene and hopefully prevent potential further retaliation.
In a probable cause affidavit Seguin Police Detective Sgt. Curle Price wrote Tuesday, he sought arrest warrants for several individuals connected to the shooting.
Price told Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Darrell Hunter that patrol officer Billy Perkins found Taylor lying next to a pickup truck in the 900 block of Anderson Street just after answering an 11:18 p.m. “shots fired” call.
Taylor died of a gunshot wound to the head Monday evening at University Hospital in San Antonio.
“Upon arrival, officer Perkins was flagged down by a black male identified as Timothy Dailey, who directed (him) to a shooting victim lying in the street,” Price wrote. “Perkins ... located a black male lying next to a parked white pickup truck. The black male was unconscious and suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.”
Price said Perkins identified the injured man as Taylor.
“A box cutter and blue bandana was located under Garland’s body,” Price wrote.
The color blue and specifically a blue bandana have been identified in other cases as the “colors” or identifiers of the “Crips” criminal street gang.
Two live and two fired .40 caliber rounds were found a short distance away, Price said.
In addition, a loaded .32 caliber pistol was found next to Taylor’s body, police say.
The investigation at the scene revealed there had been a dispute prior to the shooting, Price wrote in his affidavit.
“Preliminary information revealed that there was a disturbance on Anderson Street with an unknown party,” Price wrote. “Approximately 10 black males chased another party to the front of (an Anderson Street home), where gunshots were fired and Garland Taylor had been shot. All parties were said to have fled the scene on foot.”
Officers got descriptions of two men who had fled east on Anderson Street, and they found Darrell Sheffield, 22, and (a San Antonio resident) at Stage Coach Apartments. Both men denied involvement in the shooting incident. Police took their shoes because of suspected blood spatter evidence.s
Darrell Sheffield and another man acknowledged being members of the 74 Hoover Crips criminal gang, and during interviews said Taylor and Greg Popham were also members, Price wrote.
The shooting unfolded after a physical altercation on Anderson Street between Timothy Dailey and three Hispanic men in which Dailey was hit in the head with a beer bottle, Price wrote. Dailey contacted several other men police identify as gang members and asked that they go back to Anderson Street to retaliate.
“Before leaving ... (one of the men) gave Taylor a handgun,” Price wrote.
Upon return to Anderson Street, Dailey got into a verbal dispute with men there, Price wrote. One of the men fired a handgun, and Taylor was hit in the head.
“At the time Garland Taylor was shot, he had been peering over the bed of a pickup, pointing his handgun in the direction of (an Anderson Street home),” Price wrote.
Since his arrival in Seguin more than a year ago, Kelso has repeatedly called on local citizens and residents to support the SPD and promised, in return, that those who cooperate with law enforcement will not see their information go unheeded.
In addition, police and prosecutors promise to bring the full weight of the law and the judicial system down on anyone who retaliates against a witness or threatens to.
“At some point, and I hope it is now, we as citizens of this great community have to get fed up with these gang members feeling comfortable with getting away with offenses because individuals are afraid to cooperate,” Kelso said. “These gang members terrorize our neighborhoods and place lives in fear on a daily basis, and will continue to do so if we don’t agree that enough is enough. We as law enforcement and the judicial process can only do so much, but together as partners, we have so much more potential to put a stop to gang activities.”
Police have made the following arrests in their investigation into the Anderson Street shooting in which Garland Taylor died.
The charges listed are allegations. None of the suspects has been charged with the shooting itself.
Tuesday:
• Darrell Sheffield, 23, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, $150,000 bail.
• Timothy Dailey, 18, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, $150,000 bail.
• Gregory Popham, 19, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, $150,000 bail.
Wednesday:
• An unidentified 16-year-old boy, detained by juvenile authorities for engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault.
Thursday:
• David Buitron Jr., 37, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of less than 1 gram of a controlled substance, penalty group 1, evidence tampering, $265,000 bail.
Friday:
• Christopher Buitron, 23, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, $150,000 bail.
• Mark Buitron, 22, engaging in organized criminal activity intending aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, $150,000 bail.
• Marcus Placencia, 39, engaging in organized criminal activity intending other felony, $155,600 bail.
• Angelica Lopez, 39, engaging in organized criminal activity intending other felony, $150,000 bail.
• Also arrested: Three men wanted on unrelated burglary charges have been picked up as a result of the Anderson Street investigation.
• Not arrested: Police had warrants for three men on allegations of engaging in organized criminal activity who they were still seeking on Saturday.
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