A block party, a 14-year-old, and gunshots that changed everything

BRYAN, Texas — It was supposed to be a block party. Music, neighbors, a summer night on West 17th Street.

Then the gunshots started.

Bryan Police officers were already nearby when they heard the shooting break out. As the crowd scattered in every direction, officers found four victims on the ground — all of them bleeding, one of them just 14 years old.

A teenager who never made it home

D’Antwon Miles, 14, of Bryan, was rushed to St. Joseph Hospital. He did not survive.

He became the youngest fatality in what investigators say was a shootout between two groups in the 1200 block of West 17th Street.

Three others were also shot that night — a 17-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, and a 42-year-old woman. The two teenagers were treated and released. The woman was admitted to St. Joseph Hospital and listed in stable condition.

“Senseless” — the word the police chief used

Bryan Police Chief Dean Swartzlander did not hold back in his statement following Miles’ death.

“A 14-year-old lost his life and several others were injured as a result of this senseless act of violence,” Swartzlander said.

He extended condolences to Miles’ family and to everyone affected by the tragedy.

Bullets also struck two vehicles on West 17th Street and one on Harlem Lane. Parts of the street and Lowery remained closed Sunday as investigators processed the scene.