19-Year-Old Student Shot, Killed After Beer Pong Argument at a Party
The shooter claims the gun went off by accident.
Lacie LaRose, a 19-year-old college student, was at a graduation party a month ago in College Station, Texas, when she was shot by Ronald Wayne McNeil, who crashed the party with some friends. Landon Duke, the 23-year-old who the graduation party was for, now tells The Eagle that he got into a heated argument with McNeil about the rules of the beer pong game they were playing.
Though it's unclear what exactly the men argued over, McNeil, 40, left the party angry after the 1 a.m. game of beer pong. Duke closed himself and some partygoers into the garage "just to be safe." Hours later, McNeil fired 14 shots at the garage. LaRose, who was outside the garage at the time, was the only one fatally shot; two others suffered minor injuries.
According to KBTX, McNeil told the police that when he returned to the party, one of his friends was being assaulted, but that the shots fired were accidental even though his finger was on the trigger. In 2000, McNeil was convicted of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance. As a convicted felon, he is not allowed to carry a firearm in the first place.
