Arrests made in Labor Day weekend BB gun shootings
Update: According to Rice University Police Chief Bill Taylor, Caitlin Barnett turned herself in sometime between Thursday and Friday afternoon, paid bond and was released. Bonnie Mugg also paid bond and was released. The two remaining suspects are currently in jail.Four suspects involved in the Labor Day weekend BB shootings on Rice campus and the surrounding area have been identified by Rice University Police Department. Arrests have been made for three of the suspects, and a warrant has been issued for the fourth.
RUPD identified the suspects as Caitlin Barnett, age 19; John Michael Chargois, age 22; Paul Helton, age unknown; and Bonnie Mugg, 21. All four of the suspects are charged with the felony of aggravated assault, Rice University Police Chief Dianna Marshall said. Only Barnett and Chargois are accused of being involved in every BB shooting incident.
The arrest of Barnett, a Lovett College sophomore who lives off campus, is still pending. Police are currently searching for her whereabouts.
On Sept. 6 and 7, several incidents of BB shootings on the outer loop of Rice and on several nearby streets were reported. In one case, a victim was shot by BBs and knocked down on her way to Rice Village. Allegedly, the BBs were shot either from a Ford Ranger pickup owned by Barnett, or a gray Ford Escape owned by Mugg.
Another victim, who was fired upon on I-45, trailed the suspects in their gray Ford Escape and managed to get the license plate from the vehicle. Marshall credited that information as the key factor which led to the identification and subsequent arrests of the suspects. Following the identification of the vehicle as Mugg's, RUPD searched the suspect's car and found three BBs on the floor of her vehicle. Marshall said the suspects were then interviewed, where they provided additional information that allowed RUPD to obtain warrants for the arrest of all four individuals.
After the arrest, the suspects will remain in jail until they go to trial or until bond is posted for release.
Rice Police Chief Bill Taylor said in a Rice news release that the situation was intolerable.
"Reckless behavior that endangers others will not be tolerated at Rice," Taylor said.
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