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Veterans on edge after fight leaves one man dead

Posted: Oct 13, 2012 5:36 PM by Erika Flores
Updated: Oct 13, 2012 9:40 PM


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TUCSON -A fight at the Disabled American Veterans on the Southeast-side left a man dead overnight.

Tucson police said it involved a lot of people some affiliated with gangs.

Officers arrested two people Saturday evening.

Police said it started inside and spilled out into the parking lot.
That's when the Disabled American Veterans parking lot turned into a deadly mess early Saturday morning.
George Bowens has been a member for 22 years.

He said he was working in the kitchen when the fight broke out.

"I went out there and they had my waitress pinned between the jukebox and some tables," said Bowens.

He said he pulled her out and took her to safety.

"And then from there I told the DJ, stop the music. Everybody get out," said Bowens.

But the fight had already moved outdoors.

"People are really violent these days," said Lila Sims, who goes there often to play Bingo.

Police said multiple people, some gang members, attacked 35 year old James Braun.

He died from his injuries.

"There was definitely a lot of people there. A lot of them left. We held on to at least 15 to 20 witnesses that we're interviewing," said Sgt. Chris Widmer.

Police said three people were detained.

"For something like that it kind of puts everybody on edge. You wonder if you're safe coming to this place again," said Disabled American Veterans Commander Nathan Jones.

Jones said he's been here since the 90's and has never heard of something like that happening at their events.

"Friday night is our oldies but goodies night. We have an old school DJ," he said.

It's an event for the veterans and their guests to come in and unwind.

"This is one of the unfortunate incidents, and we are going to re-evaluate everything and take positive action," said Bowens.

37-year-old D'Angelo Walker was arrested and booked into the Pima County Jail for one count of 2nd degree murder.

38-year-old Henry Gilcrest was arrested for one count of hindering prosecution.

Police said Gilcrest verbally directed the assault on Mr. Braun and drove D'Angelo Walker away from the scene.

Detectives believe there is at least one other person involved in the assault.

Anyone with information is urged to call 88-CRIME.

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