NEW ALBANY, Ind — The names of the four suspects arrested in the Harvest Homecoming shooting that killed an 18-year-old and injured two other bystanders were made public Tuesday.
According to Floyd County prosecutor Chris Lane, on Oct. 12 one group was by the fountain area when they were approached by another group coming from Black Street.
New Albany Police did confirm there was some on-going dispute between these two groups of people before the shooting. They could not provide more details about what that entails.
The two groups exchanged words and then shots were fired my multiple people in the area.
20-year-old Joshua Smith is facing charges for murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, attempted aggravated battery, criminal recklessness, obstruction of justice, resisting law enforcement, criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Darius Tuff is also facing charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, attempted aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
23-year-old Shermichael Smith is also charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, aggravated battery, attempted aggravated battery, and criminal recklessness.
Isaiah Page also faces charges for murder, attempted murder and criminal recklessness. Lane identified him as the initial shooter.
Investigators recovered two groups of casings from the shooting. They determined the casings were fired from two different firearms.
According to the affidavit, Joshua was at the shooting and fled the scene in a car that was at the same place the casings were found.
He confessed to firing a gun in the air while in the "ride area" and near the car he and two others fled the scene in, the affidavit said.
During an interview, Joshua admitted to selling the gun he used after the shooting to someone for drugs, but refused to provide a name.
He also knew the person he sold the gun to sold the gun to another person, but did not know that person's name.
Hours before the shooting, Joshua texted a woman saying he had people trying to kill him. Later that night after the shooting, court documents indicate he again texted the woman saying someone shot at him.
The next day Joshua texted the woman saying that he planned to rob a man he was with at Harvest Homecoming, but then the shooting happened. Smith accused the man of being the reason his house had been shot at two years ago.
When police later searched his home they found a gun with casings matching the one used in the shooting.
The affidavit says the location where Joshua fired his weapon has a direct line of sight to where 18-year-old Bryce Gerlach was shot and later died from his injuries.
A witness identified Shermichael as having been at the shooting and fired a shot north towards where two bystanders were shot. Shermichael told officers he was taking cover behind a car in the area and that he drove Joshua from the scene on the day of the shooting.
Police determined that it was Shermichael's gun that shot the two bystanders after a search of his and Joshua Smith's home.
Both Joshua and Shermichael say "Squirrel," later discovered to be Tuff, is their roommate and drove them both to Harvest Homecoming.
A witness saw Tuff fire shots at another man who was jumping the ride fence during the festival.
"What took around 10 seconds of shots being fired has required countless hours of investigation and each of those hours is worth it," Lane said.
All four suspects are in custody.