Trail Ride Organizer Addresses Criticism Of the Recent Event

The organizer of the trail ride near Nechanitz that ended with a shooting death on Sept. 28 spoke to the Record last Friday.

Ronald Addison, President of the Real Deal Family Reunion trail ride, addressed local officials and community members who have criticized the event.

Addison obtained a mass gathering permit from Fayette County before the camp out, trail ride and concert that took place on private property Sept. 25-27. Last week, the County Judge’s Office issued a statement saying officials here would no longer support issuing a permit for this event in the future.

“I went through the proper channels of trying to get everything approved,” Addison said in an interview with the Record on Oct. 3. “A lot of trail rides that go on, they don’t even think about getting a mass gathering permit. I went through the proper channels. Everything they asked me to do, I did. But whenever you put on an event, you never know how many people are going to show up.”

Attendees had to pay $25 to get in. In his permit application, Addison estimated the crowd size would be about 7,000 people over the three days.

“There were no presale tickets sold,” Addison said. “It was straight advertising on social media.”

Addison said he ordered 7,000 admission wristbands and sold out of those on Saturday. At that point, Addison said he agreed with the Sheriff’s decision to close the gates.

However, Addison said he knew some people jumped or crawled through fences to get in without paying. Late in the night, after the main entrance was closed, an unruly mob of people “bum rushed” the main gate and knocked it down, injuring one event staff member in the process. At that point, people were able to get in without any control.

“Think about it like this,” Addison said. “You drove down from New Orleans and got there at 10 o’clock. You drove seven or eight hours. It’s shut down and they’re not letting anyone else in. You got all these people on the road who came down here to support the event and they can’t get in. It’s going to cause more problems.”

Addison said he grew up in the trail riding community and has helped organize trail rides for 17 years. He said it used to be a closely-knit community of people who got together on the weekends to ride horses and celebrate a country lifestyle. In recent years, the scene has become increasingly popular with a younger crowd who didn’t necessarily grow up in that closely-knit community.

“Back when COVID happened, trail riding was the only thing still going on,” Addison said. “It’s outside. You can party, drink, ride your horse. It’s all going on outside. The clubs were closed. So a lot of people who weren’t exposed to the country life, the trail ride lifestyle, started doing it. It started migrating that way. Now you got a whole bunch of people who don’t know anything about the culture. They go not necessarily for the trail ride but for the party aspect of it. I think that’s where the culture took a turn.”

As the trail ride got underway Saturday afternoon, Sept. 27, a double-decker party wagon trailer collapsed. Seven people riding on it were injured and transported by Fayette County EMS to local hospitals. All were in stable condition. Addison described it as a “freak accident” that happened after one of the tires blew out. However, he said trail ride organizers like himself may consider banning certain trailers in the future.

“Now that I saw it happen, there definitely needs to be some awareness about those double-deckers,” Addison said. “Maybe we’ll say, ‘No more double-deckers allowed.’” Addison said some of these trailers are well-built with heavy duty axles and tires. Poorly-built trailers, however, cannot safely support the weight of the dozens of people who ride on them.

“At my next event, if I have another event, that’ll definitely be one of the new rules – no more double-deckers,” he said.

Addison also addressed the shooting that took place on the property in the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 28.

First responders had difficulty reaching the victim due to the crowd size. He was flown by a medical helicopter to Dell Seton Medical Center in critical condition. He died hours later, around 9:30 a.m. The Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 19-year-old Andrew Webb Jr. of Houston, who also had close ties to the Corrigan community.

Addison emphasized that the shooting took place after the event was shut down and while he and his team were trying to get people to leave. He pushed back on the suggestion that organizers were to blame for the shooting.

“One of my buddies said there was a shooting at a bar out in La Grange not too long ago,” Addison said, referring to the accidental shooting that took place at the Star Bar on July 28. “They said the bar was open again the next day. Do you close this bar down because of a shooting?”

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the homicide with assistance from the Texas Rangers. No one has yet been arrested.

According to Addison, an argument over a female led up to the shooting. Addison described what witnesses said about the shooting.

“He shot that boy through his jacket,” Addison said. “He didn’t pull the gun out. He shot through his jacket.”

That was the reason so many people reported never heading a gunshot, Addison said.

“It was muffled,” he said. Addison said security officers were searching people around the stage area for weapons. He said the shooting took place outside the secured perimeter.

On Facebook last week, Addison identified a person as the shooter and urged people to contact the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office if they know his whereabouts. The Sheriff’s Office said last week that investigators have identified a person of interest, but they have declined to name that person.

Addison said he regrets his event ended the way it did.

“I’ve got a lot to lose,” he said. “I’m an educator. I teach kids, elementary school. I do this as a hobby. I enjoy horses. But I’ve got a career on the flip side of it.”

He thanked the Sheriff’s Office, EMS, County Judge’s Office and the Commissioners for granting him the opportunity to host the event.

“While perfection is impossible at an event of this size, our mission has always been clear: to highlight the positive side of trail riding and ensure that everyone feels welcome, safe, and part of something greater than themselves,” he said in a post on Facebook last week.

Addison spoke about the economic impact the event had on the area.

“For the community of Fayette County and La Grange, it was economic growth,” he said. “It brought in a lot of revenue.”

In addition, Addison said his organization awarded four academic scholarships totaling $1,000 since the event took place.

“But could we have done something different?” he said.

Since the event, Addison said he’s thought about ways to improve security, such as employing K9 handlers with gun-stiffing dogs to patrol the campground. If he knew so many people would attend, Addison said he could have possibly leased adjacent property to alleviate parking, traffic and crowd control issues.

“If I ever were to get another opportunity to come back, yeah, there’s some stuff I saw that needs correcting,” he said. “ I think it could be fixed. But if they don’t want to give me a chance, then what can I say?”