FAYETTE COUNTY — A trail ride turned deadly on Sept. 28 near Nechanitz in Fayette County. Over 7,000 registered riders attended the event until a mass of people rushed the gate after it was closed, injuring a staff member. Ronald Addison, president of the trail ride, faces community criticism of the event for lack of control, trash and tying up traffic for hours. He obtained a mass gathering event permit in the county. However, he was not prepared for what happened, although he had organized many such events for 17 years. Addison said the culture has changed since COVID. More people come out for the partying than the experience of trail riding.
The shooting took place after the event was being closed down. The victim was identified as Andrew Webb Jr., 19, of Houston. The Fayette County Sheriff's Office is investigating the homicide with the Texas Rangers. No one has been arrested as of press time.
Because of the chaos, Fayette County Judge Dan Mueller issued a statement saying officials will no longer support issuing a permit for this event. He said the recent mass gathering held in the Nechanitz area violated both the Texas Department of State Health Service’s regulations and the county’s permitting process, according to county officials. “After last year’s gathering, the county implemented a mass gathering permit process to ensure that future events operated in a safe manner. The Fayette County judge's office, sheriff's office, EMS department, and the consumer health protection manager for the Texas Department of State Health Services Region 7 worked with the promoters of the Real Deal Family Reunion to explain the requirements of the mass gathering statute and health and safety codes. The whole purpose of working with the group was to have a safe and successful event,” said Angela Hahn, Fayette County emergency management coordinator. “It was a good-faith effort on the part of the county. Unfortunately, the event failed to comply with the regulations and so the sheriff’s department shut it down. It’s important to note that the trail ride – while organized by the same group – was not part of the mass gathering. The county doesn’t have any legal authority to prohibit trail rides – in fact, they are a regular occurrence,” she added.
“While my input was limited to the Emergency Medical Services aspect of the event, I was made to believe that the organizers were going to make a good-faith effort to deliver on the things they promised. I’m sad to have seen that they did not. It’s my belief based on all of the things I personally witnessed in the late-night hours of the 27th and early morning of the 28th, that the organizers are incapable of providing a safe environment for this event, and I don’t believe that I will ever be able to support the approval of a permit for this group in good conscience, again.” said EMS Director Josh Vandever. Both Fayette County Judge Dan Mueller and Sheriff Keith Korenek agreed with Vandever.
“Once it became clear that the organizers exceeded the scope of the permit, we shut it down. However, due to the size of the crowd, it took several hours to clear the grounds. I can’t support the approval of a permit for the Real Deal Family Reunion again. My officers did a great job handling this situation,” said Korenek.
“It was very disheartening to hear what happened last weekend. The county accepted the permit request and the county operated in good faith. The organizers totally disregarded our instructions,' said Mueller.
