The gunman who injured three people at the State Fair of Texas in 2023 pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, court records show.
Cameron Turner, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited place just before jury selection began for his trial slated to start this week. The judge credited Turner for the two years he's spent in jail since his arrest, and he'll serve all of his sentences concurrently.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office dismissed a third count of aggravated assault as part of the plea deal, according to court records. The DA's office declined to comment. Turner's attorney Michael Todd could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
All three people sustained non-life-threatening injuries the night of Oct. 14, 2023, after Dallas police say a man later identified as Turner shot at another man. Turner told police he fired in self-defense.
The shooting prompted State Fair organizers to ban nearly all firearms from fairgrounds as part of security adjustments at the 2024 fair. That led Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue the city of Dallas and the State Fair for what he said was an unlawful ban of handguns on government-owned property and an infringement on fairgoer's Second Amendment rights.
A Dallas County judge denied Paxton's request for a temporary injunction to stop the ban from going into effect at the 2024 State Fair. A state appeals court and the Texas Supreme Court both denied his appeals, but the lawsuit remains pending in district court.
The dispute inspired bills in this year's legislative session by Republican state lawmakers attempting to prevent the State Fair and other private entities that lease government property from banning guns on the premises. None of those bills passed.
Similar suits against Fair Park's Music Hall and the Majestic Theatre are ongoing in Travis County.
One of the victims in the shooting sued Turner and the companies in charge of securing the fair.
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