Boy, 17, is charged with murder for 'shooting a man dead and wounding two others after luring them for dates on Grindr'
The US Marshals have arrested a 17-year-old boy who allegedly shot one man dead and wounded two others after luring them on three Grindr dates in the same night.
Damarion Degrate was taken into custody in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday on a warrant that was issued last week, charging him with murder in connection to the August 17 shooting death of 23-year-old Jonathan Breeding,
Breeding was found unresponsive in his car near the area of North 34th Street and Brooke Circle at around 1.40am.
He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Damarion Degrate, 17 (left), has been arrested by US Marshals and charged with murder in the August 17 killing of Jonathan Breeding, 23 (right), in Waco, Texas
Degrate is suspected of carrying out a shooting spree on August 17 that targeted three men he had met on the LGBTQ dating app Grindr
The three victims were shot in Waco within a span of six hours of one another
Breeding was one of three men who were shot within a span of six hours and within a few blocks of one another that morning. The other two victims survived.
The first shooting was reported at 12.30am, with the victim telling police that he had been attacked at a different location and then driven himself to a corner gas station at North New Road and Bosque Boulevard to call for help, reported Fox West Texas.
At around 6.15am that morning, police responded to North 36th Street and Grim Avenue and found a man who had been shot at another location.
During the investigation of all three shootings, detectives learned that all three victims had met Degrate through Grindr.
'It was through this app that Degrate communicated with the victims and made plans to meet up with them,' according to a press release from the Waco Police Department. 'After meeting up with the victims, Degrate shot all 3 of them.'
Degrate was previously arrested on an attempted murder charge for the first of the three shootings and posted $200,000 bail, reported Waco Tribune-Herald.
Breeding was found unresponsive in his car near the area of North 34th Street and Brooke Circle. He later died from a gunshot wound to his chest
'Investigators were not able to definitively connect Degrate to the murder until now,' police stated.
According to an arrest affidavit, the 17-year-old used Grindr to 'lure' his victims.
The third shooting that occurred on August 17 is still under investigation. Degrate is currently listed as the primary suspect in that attack as well, but no charges have been filed as of Tuesday.
Grindr is a dating app used primarily by members of the LGBTQ community, but police have not said if the victims' sexuality played a role in the crime spree.
No comments