1989-09-02

Thursday, September 7, 1989

89-262 - Lake Meredith (Texas) - Shooting Incident

On the evening of September 2nd, W.V.G., 27, and his wife, N.R.G., of Amarillo, Texas, were camping at Harbor Bay when they decided to join a group of campers who were drinking, singing and chanting in the campground.

Around 8:30 p.m., B.D. and two other men from Amarillo approached the group in a very antagonistic manner and asked them to quiet down. One of the three men had a machete. During the ensuing argument, W.V.G. was hit with the butt end or flat side of the machete; he then pulled a knife and another member of the group grabbed a hatchet.

The sequence of events that followed is still unclear, but it appears that W.V.G. then got a .357 revolver from his truck, lost it in the general melee that followed, and was shot in the head and stomach, probably by B.D. N.R.G. was shot through the leg. B.D. and his two friends fled, threw the pistol and machete into Lake Meredith, packed up all their gear and left the park.

A park dispatcher who was monitoring local frequencies on a scanner heard an ambulance being dispatched to Harbor Bay and sent a ranger to investigate. The ranger helped provide life support to W.V.G. and rode with him to the hospital; the second ranger to arrive began an investigation.

Although most of the twenty or so people at the scene were intoxicated, the ranger was able to get a description of the vehicle the three men had left in. The dispatcher recognized the vehicle as one which had been stopped earlier in the day for a traffic infraction, pulled the violation notice and got enough information on it to provide Amarillo PD officers with the name and address of the owner.

B.D.'s two friends were arrested as they arrived at home, and B.D. was arrested on the 5th on a federal warrant issued by the FBI. B.D. has a long criminal history, and was on parole from an ADW (assault with a deadly weapon) conviction.

W.V.G. is still alive, but he is on life support equipment and is reported to be deteriorating rapidly. An Amarillo dive team is on site looking for the weapons thrown into the lake. The Moore County Sheriff's Office is the lead agency on the investigation; they are being assisted by NPS rangers and the FBI. (Telephone report from Bill Tanner, RAD/SWRO).

Monday, February 5, 1990

89-262 - Lake Meredith (Texas) - Follow-up on Shooting Incident

On September 2, 1989, an altercation at a park campground at Harbor Bay resulted in the shooting of W.G. The assailant, 20-year-old D.G.D. of Amarillo, shot W.G. in the head, causing him permanent brain damage. The case went to trial in district court in Dumas, Texas, on January 8th. At the trial's conclusion, the jury found D.G.D. not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of the lesser charge of aggravated assault. After hearing additional evidence, the jury returned an enhanced sentence of 20 years in the state penitentiary. (CompuServe message from LAMR, 3 p.m. EST, 2/2/90).