CYPRESS, Texas – Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia spoke for the first time since a young man was arrested in connection with the deadly party shooting in Cypress and then released.
The sheriff called the investigation dynamic and complicated because of the massive scene at the house party Saturday night in Cypress where two people were fatally shot and 19 others hurt.
"We are supposed to be finding the truth and that is what we're doing," said the sheriff.
Garcia has come under some scrutiny recently after his agency arrested two men who were thought to be the suspected shooters. Charges against one of them, Willie Young, were dropped; the other, Randy Stewart, is still being held on aggravated assault charges. Stewart told Local 2 Wednesday that he is innocent.
"Once again, it's regretful that he (Young) had to go through that experience," Sheriff Garcia said. "We felt we had the truth."
He said his investigators questioned three separate witnesses and that's how they got the information to make the arrests.
"Their info was thought to be credible, but we found out later the info was inaccurate," Sheriff Garcia said.
He reiterated that the investigation is ongoing and far from over.
Garcia said, "We still need persons with good, credible information to come forward so we can find all persons that are responsible for the unfortunate lives lost in this incident."
The sheriff said his agency is getting tips, and in fact, on Thursday they followed up on some that came in through their phone app called iWatch Harris County.
Sheriff Garcia and the Ministers Against Crime said they mutually agreed to meet to discuss the incident.
The Ministers Against Crime said they support the sheriff and were happy to see that Young was properly released.
"The greater regret is that two lives were lost," said one of the ministers. "How do we prevent this from happening at the next house party?"
They also asked for prayers for the victims' families as they prepare to bury their children.