This past Saturday, a lone gunman fired off multiple rounds while in the food court of the Texas State Fair. Three people were wounded and the gunshots sent patrons scurrying away from the scene of the violence.
But one woman was not surprised by the shooting that transpired. In a viral TikTok video that has received over 999,000 views and over 100,000 likes, user Destene Sudduth (@itsdestene) described the many “red flags” she spotted while at the fair and explained why others should be weary of attending in the future.
“Never going back to the state fair,” text overlaid on the clip read.
In it, Sudduth explained the many reasons why she will no longer patronize the event and believes other people should also avoid it.
“There were a few red flags that I feel, like, need to be addressed before you even consider going back,” she said.
The TikToker described the event’s security as too lax, and supported her claim by recalling what happened when she walked onto the fair grounds.
She said that she was preoccupied with her niece and mistakenly slipped by security without them checking her bag. But when she went back to the guard booth for them to inspect it, no one cared to actually search the purse.
“Oh no, you’re fine, just go ahead and walk through,” she was allegedly told by the state fair’s security workers.
The woman was taken aback by the worker’s disregard of the rules to search everyone’s bags.
“In a place where there’s children here, you’re just gonna let me walk through?” she questioned.
@itsdestene_ praying for anyone affected by last night’s events at the state fair!🫶🏾 #statefair #texasstatefair ♬ original sound – itsdestene_
Things only escalated from there. At one point in the evening, Sudduth said a member of her party returned to the group and warned them, “They’re shooting, we gotta go. Let’s go, get the baby, y’all follow me.”
That’s when she said a stampede began.
“Literally, there’s like hundreds and hundreds of people just bum rushing us,” she continued. “My biggest fear was that my niece was going to get trampled.”
Fortunately, the woman and her family were able to run to safety near a booth without getting hurt. While taking shelter in the booth, she noted that a worker told the hiding patrons not to worry because such occurrences were “normal” at the state fair.
“They do this every year, there’s no shooter here,” the man allegedly said.
That man was wrong. Moments later, Sudduth said there was an announcement saying that there was in fact an active shooter and that patrons should “take cover.” Then everyone was instructed to leave the park.
“There’s another bum rush of crowd that runs again,” she said.
Sudduth and her family then moved to another area of the park, near a haunted house, seeking safety.
She recalled, “We don’t even know where to go,” while adding that none of the park workers offered any instructions or help.
“Nobody’s telling us what to do, there’s no safety precautions,” she continued. “There’s nobody, there’s no security in sight.”
Finally, a state fair worker invited the group into the haunted house to take cover. After hiding out for 15 minutes or so, a police officer finally informed everyone that the shooter had been caught and the situation was under control.
“It just doesn’t sit right with me that there was no type of safety precaution,” she concluded. “There was no structure.”
Sudduth has come under fire in the past after she accepted a trip to a Shein factory in Guangzhou, China, which had reportedly been organized by the company in an attempt to debunk claims that their factories violate multiple labor laws. However, users were much more sympathetic to the content creator after her ordeal at the state fair.
In the comments section, many shared similar experiences and agreed with the TikToker that more must be done to guarantee the safety of patrons at the fair.
“This happened to me tooo!!!!” one user wrote. “The lady told me I shouldn’t be worried then 5 mins later they came on the speaker. LITERALLY THIS WHOLE STORY.”
“They barely checked my bag when we went Friday smh,” another added. “Thank God y’all are okay!”
“Your experience sounds so similar to mine,” a third said. “Last night was traumatic and life changing. We had to hide twice!”
Saturday’s Texas State Fair shooter was apprehended and now reportedly faces three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The man claimed he was defending his family after a group of men approached them. He admitted to firing three or four shots at the men.
The Daily Dot reached out to Sudduth via email for comment. This story will be updated should we receive a response.
Update 6:40 pm CT, Oct. 18, 2023: In response to an email from the Daily Dot requesting further comment, Karissa Condoianis, Senior Vice President of Public Relations at the Texas State Fair, said, “We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the Fair on Saturday, October 14th and are doing everything possible to ensure it never happens again.”
After commending the actions of the Dallas Police, Department of Public Safety State Troopers, and the State Fair Safety Team Members, the rep stated, “We have confidence in our safety and security plan with the Dallas Police Department (DPD). Every day of the State Fair, we have a significant amount of police officers, safety team members, and private security officers on-site.”
She went on to clarify about the fair’s security that “No policy changes are planned at this time; however, as a precautionary measure we are working with DPD and our private security partners to increase security presence at the gates and throughout the fairgrounds for the remainder of the Fair.”
She also urged fair-goers to, “remain ‘Fair Aware.’ If you see something that doesn’t look right on the fairgrounds, please say something to a uniformed police officer or State Fair Safety Team member.”