3 Fort Bliss soldiers arrested in Cincy District shooting stemming from fight
UPDATE, Nov. 26: Three Fort Bliss soldiers have been arrested in connection with a shooting that injured a 24-year-old El Pasoan in the Cincinnati Entertainment District last weekend, police said Friday.
Kervans Toussaint, 22, was being held in the downtown jail on $300,000 bond, while Dominique Mills, 23, and Alain Joaquin Hernandez, 20, were each being held on $200,000 bond.
The trio are all charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.
Investigators said El Paso County Constables patrolling the area saw the shooting at Mesa and Cincinnati that stemmed from a fight - and led to panic as crowds of people went running from the area.
The three soldiers fled the shooting scene at the time, but police said they were later identified and arrested on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old victim was shot in the lower torso and wounded; police didn't update his condition nor did they release his name on Friday. Authorities also didn't indicate which of the three men charged is believed to have fired that shot that struck the victim.
ABC-7 was awaiting further information from Fort Bliss about the ranks, assignments and duty status of the trio arrested. All three men appeared in their jail booking photographs wearing Army apparel.
ORIGINAL REPORT, Nov. 21: EL PASO, Texas -- One person was hospitalized after being shot around bar closing time early Sunday in the Cincinnati Entertainment District, according to El Paso police.
Police indicated multiple shots were reported fired during a fight that occurred just before 2 a.m.
The shooting drew a major police response, prompting nearby UTEP to issue a shelter-in-place alert for students on campus. El Paso and UTEP police examined a campus parking garage across the street from the shooting scene as part of the investigation.
"If you are on campus, please shelter in place. Otherwise, do not approach the campus area at this time," said the alert, which was issued about 3 a.m.
The UTEP alert indicated the shooting occurred at 2700 N. Mesa Street, which sits on the corner of Cincinnati Street. The owner of the bar listed at that location said the shooting happened in the street and not in the bar itself - and maintained the bar had no involvement. A stretch of Cincinnati Street as well as a portion of Mesa was cordoned off by El Paso police and El Paso County Constable units and crime scene tape.
The shooting suspects were still outstanding, according to the UTEP alert. Meantime, police said the condition of the shooting victim wasn't immediately known.
As of about 4:15 a.m., UTEP issued an "All Clear," dropping the shelter-in-place order. "The dangerous situation is over," UTEP tweeted, but officials didn't indicate whether the fleeing suspects had been captured.
UTEP Alert: Dangerous Situation - Shooting occurred at 2700 N. Mesa, near the UTEP Campus. Suspects are still outstanding. If you are on campus, please shelter in place. Otherwise, do not approach the campus area at this time. Updates will be posted here.
— UTEP (@UTEP) November 21, 2021
UTEP Alert: ALL CLEAR. The dangerous situation is over. Please return to normal activities.
— UTEP (@UTEP) November 21, 2021
