The families of Ara Duke and Lyndsey Vicknair were notified last night that the suspect from the Old Settlers Park Juneteenth celebration shooting on Saturday, June 15, had been arrested.
The Round Rock Police Department officially announced the suspect’s arrest during a press briefing at 10:30 am this morning, June 20, 2024. Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks started the briefing with a recap of the incident and details released so far. He announced that at approximately 7:30 am today, 17 year old Ricky Thompson, III, of Manor, Texas, was arrested in Pflugerville, Texas, as a participant in the initial fight this past Saturday at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Texas.
Thompson is the person from the suspect description that was previously released by the police department and is currently being charged with second degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“This case is still ongoing. We have a lot of work to do. We know Ricky Thompson was not the only shooter at this event. We are still looking for other suspects. We are still continuing to gather all evidence, continuing to talk to witnesses, and will continue to do everything that we can to bring everybody involved to justice,” Chief Banks stated during the briefing.
A murder charge hasn’t been filed yet because of other evidence and the ongoing investigation regarding the incident. The Round Rock Police Department and the Williamson County District Attorney’s Office are working together to make sure the proper charges are being filed against the correct people.
We will not stop until the Vicknair family and the Duke family and the other 14 victims get the justice that they rightfully deserve.
Chief Banks later stated that the Duke and Vicknair families were notified this morning, not last night, that Thompson was taken into custody. There appears to be some discrepancies with that information. He stated that the department had hoped to have someone in custody by last night before Juneteenth ended. So they preemptively scheduled a press conference in case someone was arrested by then.
“It’s Juneteenth. It should’ve been a time of celebration. It should’ve been a time that we as a community would remember and reflect on ‘What’s the purpose of Juneteenth?’ Unfortunately, we didn’t have anybody in custody, but we had a great conversation with our district attorney last night, and we didn’t want to compromise nor do we want to compromise any portion of this investigation.”
A candlelight vigil is being held today, June 20, 7:30 pm – 8:00 pm, by the Austin HoneyBadgers Track Club at the Webb Middle School track in honor of Lyndsey Vicknair. The school is located at 601 East St. Johns Ave., Austin, Texas. No public memorial events have been shared for Ara Duke at this time. However, Ara’s family has requested instead of sending them flowers to donate to the NPH USA in her honor or to the Boys and Girls Club.
A GoFundMe has also been set up in Lyndsey’s honor. Please do what you can to support both families in these trying times
If anyone has information on the whereabouts of other people involved in the fight and shooting, please contact the Round Rock Police Department at (512) 218-5500.