Ghosts & Hauntings

Ghost hunters awarded $2.8 million after man shot at them in Texas

By T.K. Randall
September 27, 2025 ·  11 comments

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) The incident, which occurred back in 2020, saw the group - consisting of seven young adults who were teenagers at the time - venture out in the hope of locating the Devil's Lagoon, a local legend.

"Legend goes that when you go out there at night or whatever, that you can hear like the trots of a carriage, like over the water," said Slade Gutierrez, one of the group members.

Things took a rather sinister turn, however, when they came across a man parked in his vehicle at the side of a road in the middle of nowhere.

"We were going down the road, and we came up on a parked car on the side of the road, and he waved us down," said Arturo Joseph Sayas, another of the group.

Then, out of nowhere, the man pointed a gun at their two vehicles and started shooting.Terrified, the group quickly made their escape, having been fortunate enough to avoid being hit by the bullets.

"I was terrified," said Slade. "It was probably the most terrified I've ever been in my life. I don't think I've ever felt that kind of terror, that kind of emotion in general. It was so intense."

Now, five years on, a civil court has ordered the culprit to pay the group $2.8 million in damages.

"The shooting happened on El Toro Road, which is a public road - a county road," said Ryan Solis, the boys' attorney.

"And there was no evidence that they had been trespassing, that they had been stealing anything, destroying crops, shooting animals - nothing, nothing at all."

"That's what was so wild about it. There was really no justification whatsoever for the shooting."

Source: Valley Central | Comments (11)

Tags: Ghost, Shooting