Texas singer Jada Arnell Thomas was shot in the chest onstage during a meet-and-greet with audience members after a show in Dallas over the weekend, authorities said.
The 26-year-old was signing autographs at the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center when the shooting occurred Saturday, according to local police.
The alleged shooter, identified as 26-year-old Micah Williams, was in the autograph line after watching the entire concert when she used a handgun to fire at Thomas from just a few feet away. Around 200 others were inside the concert hall at the time, reported Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW.
Williams allegedly fled on foot immediately after the shooting, and was chased down by BAAL founder Curtis King. He caught up with her at the nearby Thompson Hotel, where officers quickly took Williams into custody.
“I went into a state of emotional rage where everything was blur and blurring,” he told KDFW. “I went out the door and said, ‘Where did the lady go?’ And they pointed in the direction where she went. I saw her through the glass doors, and so I just started running after her.”
Williams reportedly admitted to the shooting, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the outlet. She was booked into Dallas County Jail and faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Her bond was set at $200,000.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation but Texas radio station WBAP reported that Williams had apparently suffered “a mental health episode.” It’s unknown if the two women knew each other.
Thomas remained hospitalized Tuesday after undergoing surgery Monday night. In a lengthy Facebook post, King described her as “courageously strong, resilient and a devout child of God” and said she “going to be OK.”
“It is eerie to know that we now live in the kind of world with people who seem to be bent on doing harm to other people, many times for no apparent and sensible reason,” he wrote, asking for prayers for her quick recovery.