Inver Grove Heights police said Monday that no arrests have been made in the shooting death of Billy Robles, a 19-year-old aspiring rapper from St. Paul killed early Saturday during a fight between two groups of party bus passengers.
Police Chief Paul Schnell said that although investigators have interviewed many of the 40 to 50 people who were at the “chaotic scene” in the parking lot of the AMC Showplace 16 on Bishop Avenue, “we believe there are still a lot of people with a lot of information that we don’t have.”
“We have a bunch of different names,” he said. “And now we’re just trying to sort through all of them.”
Evidence from the scene shows multiple guns were fired, but it’s unclear whether the shots came from one group of people or both, Schnell said.
Although a clear motive has not been established, witnesses told police that the two groups had exchanged “disparaging comments … that had gang-related overtures to them,” before the dispute turned violent, Schnell said.
“How much of that was legit kind of gang stuff, we don’t know,” he said. “But that was certainly brought up (by witnesses). We have to sort that out.”
Alcohol also played a part in the “mayhem,” Schnell said.
“There were a number of them who were intoxicated,” he said of the partygoers.
BUS REVELERS CELEBRATING TEEN’S BIRTHDAY
The pink-colored bus was being rented for a 16-year-old girl’s birthday party through Rent My Party Bus, which is out of Minneapolis, Schnell said. The driver has cooperated with investigators, Schnell said.
A message left on the company’s voicemail for comment was not immediately returned.
At some point during the night, the bus picked up several groups of people, Schnell said. Some of the partygoers, who ranged in age from 16 to mid-20s, had not known each other previously.
The fight and shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m. as the party bus was dropping off the revelers in the theater’s parking lot. Several of them had parked cars there earlier in the night.
After words were exchanged, a 16-year-old boy was punched in the face, which led to others jumping in and getting involved in the fight, Schnell said.
CHAOTIC SCENE DESCRIBED
As officers from nine law enforcement agencies worked to secure the scene and search for suspects, they found Robles unresponsive and the 16-year-old boy with facial injuries from being punched several times.
“Some people had left or were leaving as the squads pulled up, because it was mayhem,” Schnell said. “It was people running all over the place.”
A 16-year-old boy who was shot in his leg was rushed from the scene in a car that officers soon pulled over on U.S. 52, near Butler Avenue in West St. Paul. The teen was treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul and released.
ROBLES PASSIONATE ABOUT HIS MUSIC
Darleen Tareeq, Robles’ cousin, told the Pioneer Press in an interview Saturday that Robles was shot while trying to break up the fight. She said she was not on the party bus, but had been told details from other family members.
Robles had attended Humboldt High School, where he played football and baseball, Tareeq said.Robles was passionate about rap, which he did under the moniker, BillyThaKidd, she said. In YouTube videos dating back to 2016, Robles can be seen surrounded by other young men, often rapping about growing up in poverty in St. Paul, marijuana and gun violence.
On Monday, a GoFundMe page started for the family to help with funeral expenses was over $2,400.
Staff reporter Deanna Weniger contributed to this report.