Suspect Remains At Large In Great Lakes Dragaway Triple Homicide

The suspect in a triple homicide during what’s touted as a family-friendly racing event at the Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin remains at-large as Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department investigators work to determine a motive for Sunday’s shooting.

David L. Watson, 30, Khalid R. Howard, 30, and Derek K. Edwards, 26, all from Illinois, were shot at point-blank range in a concession vendor area during the GLD’s annual Larry’s Funfest event. Edwards and Howard both died at the scene, and Watson succumbed to his injuries while en route to an area hospital. Following the shooting, the crowd, estimated at 5,000, were evacuated so that detectives could secure the scene and begin piecing together evidence. According to Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, the unidentified shooter “had enough time and enough arrogance to actually go back up and make sure they were dead,” returning to fire additional rounds at the victims before fleeing the scene.

Video credit: WTMJ-TV Milwaukee

Although the motive for the shooting remains undetermined, all three victims have been positively identified as gang members in their respective areas by gang task force officers, leading detectives to believe the incident was gang-related. The shooters’ identity and why he chose a drag racing event to carry out the shooting remains a question mark.

Larry’s Funfest is promoted as a family-friendly racing event, featuring drag racing, tailgating, live entertainment, music, and midway entertainment for children. But the event has increasingly drawn the ire of local residents, who expressed concern over the clientele that it draws annually.

“Besides that one event, we don’t have a problem,” Yorkville resident Chris Thomack told The Journal Times. “This one event draws the riffraff crowd of troublemakers. We knew it was going to bad, (but) not this bad.”

Neighbor Jamie Lindemann shared a similar belief.

“It’s unsettling,” Lindeman said. “With that particular event there is more garbage thrown in the street. I’m concerned more gang members are coming here for this particular event.”

The suspect is described as a black man in his 20s, wearing a black hoodie and blue jean shorts. Witnesses say he may have fled in a black car.