The man charged with opening fire and injuring three people at the 2023 State Fair of Texas pleaded guilty Monday morning just before jury selection was to begin.
Cameron Turner, 23, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and 10 years for unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited place. The three sentences will run concurrently.
Turner was indicted on another count of aggravated assault — a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison — but prosecutors intend to dismiss that case as part of a plea agreement, his attorney said at a hearing.
A pool of jurors waited in the halls of the courthouse near downtown Dallas just as Turner entered his plea. Testimony in the long-anticipated trial was expected to begin Tuesday.
Turner’s defense lawyer, Michael Todd, could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Gunfire erupted inside the Tower Building about about 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 14, turning a fun night at “the most Texan place on earth” into frenzied panic. Three people — two men and a woman — were wounded and hundreds of fairgoers fled.
Turner was almost immediately arrested. He told police he was defending himself and his family after feeling threatened by someone who approached him, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit. But video footage from the food courts shows Turner was alone when the shots rang out, the court filing says.
And almost two years later, it is still unknown how a gun made it into the park. Questions — some of which were thought to be answered during trial — remain over whether the gunman circumvented safety measures or if human error led to lapses in security. One of the victims is suing two companies involved in the fair’s security, accusing them of negligence.
The fair ramped up security the following year and banned most people from bringing firearms to the annual event regardless of licensing.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Dallas and the State Fair over the policy change, arguing it violated state law and “infringed on Texans’ right to self-defense” because the fair is held on city-owned land, according to Paxton’s statements at the time. The Texas Supreme Court — the state’s highest civil appellate bench — ultimately struck down Paxton’s attempt to halt the new rules on the eve of the 2024 fair.
Efforts to intervene were renewed this legislative session with a proposal to prevent contractors from banning guns in government-owned public spaces. The bill, which did not pass the Legislature’s lower chamber, took direct aim at the State Fair, which contracts with Dallas for the 24-day event.
This year’s festivities begin Sept. 26.