Red Sands business owner describes shooting during July 4th celebration

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A business owner near Red Sands is in distress after the overnight shooting.

Owner of Beer Depot Axavier Neda described the moments after the shooting.

“It really is scary. That’s why we decided just to close up for the moment,” said Neda.

According to Neda, he started seeing customers rushing toward his shop.

“I had a friend who came in rushing and he said, ‘Hey, you know what, they just saw someone on the ground. I advise you to close the gate because it’s going to be a mess,” said Neda.

RELATED: Person shot in Red Sands area on Fourth of July

Neda said he had his whole family with him celebrating the Fourth of July so as soon as he could, he locked up his shop and waited until things calmed down.

According to Neda, the area is all private property so there is only so much police can do.

“No one can say anything. No one can govern it, ’cause it’s not theirs,” said Neda.

Despite being a holiday with lots of fireworks, Chief of Texas Patrol, Jamil Moutran said everything was going smoothly before the incident.

“Our call volume was significantly lower yesterday than it was the prior year,” said Moutran.

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According to Moutran, on Thursday they had about 11 calls but said his team was in communication with the sheriff’s department and was prepared to respond, and showed up to the incident within seconds.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but it’s one that’s not a surprise when you factor in that this is an area that’s unregulated,” said Moutran.

Moutran said a change to the governance of the area may be necessary because situations like these keep occurring

“But really at some point, we do have to have a serious conversation about turning this into an official off-road park that’s regulated, managed and provides a safe venue for visitors,” said Moutran.

The El Paso Sheriff’s Office said they will be holding off putting out a statement about the incident until after the weekend.

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