Suspect in 3 Shootings Arrested, Used Grindr to Lure Victims
A suspect in three shootings in Waco, Texas has been arrested for murder in the shooting death of a man on Aug. 17. That victim, and at least one other man, was lured using Grindr, local ABC affiliate KXXV reports.
As previously reported at EDGE, Damarion Degrate, 17, is a suspect in the shooting death of Jonathan Deshawn Breeding, 23, as well as the shootings of two other men. Degrate was not charged with Breeding's murder earlier because, KXXV reported, "investigators were not able to definitively connect Degrate to the murder until now."
But once the link between Degrate and Breeding was established, authorities moved to arrest the suspect, issuing an arrest warrant on Oct. 8 and taking Degrate into custody on Oct. 12. Degrate had been arrested earlier in connection with the shooting of the first victim, who was not named in media reports.
The Waco Tribune detailed how the first victim was shot in the chest as he sat in his car shortly after midnight on Aug. 17. A followup story reported that according to an official document in the case, the first victim met Degrate at his home late on the night of Aug. 16. The two then drove to a different address and Degrate exited the vehicle, supposedly to obtain drugs. When he returned, however, he had a gun in his hand — and, the affidavit says, he "shot the victim in the chest at point-blank range."
The victim escaped in his car and headed for a filling station. He was subsequently taken to a hospital.
But the rampage continued, media reports said, with the suspect allegedly using Grindr to contact and meet with Breeding a couple of hours later.
At 6:00 that morning, police found a third man who had been shot. That victim, too, had used Grindr, media accounts reported.
Investigators have still not managed to definitively link Degrate to the third attack, and charges have not been filed in that case, the KXXV report said.