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Background: Myst Hookah + Ultra Lounge in San Antonio, Texas (Google Maps). Inset (from left to right): Joseph Amador and Lauren Machado-Juarez (San Antonio Police Department).
Tragedy struck at a Texas hookah lounge when gunfire erupted on the patio, resulting in the deaths of two individuals, according to police reports.
Authorities have charged Joseph Amador, aged 34, and Lauren Machado-Juarez, aged 35, with capital murder following the incident. Both suspects have been taken into custody, as confirmed by the San Antonio Police Department in a recent announcement.
The victims of this tragic shooting have been identified as Derek Brown, 27, and Kyung Lee, 50, as reported by CBS affiliate KENS.
The sequence of events began late on Tuesday night and continued into the early hours of Wednesday. Amador and Machado-Juarez allegedly engaged in an altercation inside the Myst Hookah + Ultra Lounge in San Antonio, leading to their removal by security personnel, as per police statements.
Shortly thereafter, an affidavit reviewed by the TV station revealed that a woman was seen driving a Ford Fusion with a male passenger. With the vehicle’s headlights turned off, she maneuvered the car towards the lounge, passing it once before circling back. This allowed the passenger to position himself to fire a weapon at the outdoor patio.
Authorities contend Machado-Juarez and Amador were the driver and passenger, respectively, and witnesses said some 20 shots were fired.
“As soon as I kinda walked in the door, that’s when I heard the gunshots fire,” a witness told San Antonio-based ABC affiliate KSAT. “I didn’t really think anything at it at first … until I looked back and saw like two bodies down. Then I actually started like getting into like a panic mode.”
Investigators said they were able to identify the car and track down its owner, with detectives — two days later — seeing the two suspects exit an apartment and get into that vehicle. The defendants were arrested, and a handgun was recovered in the vehicle, according to KENS.
At the time of their arrests, both Amador and Machado-Juarez had outstanding warrants for charges not related to the shooting, police claim.