Charges Dropped Against One Suspect in Miami Banquet Hall Mass Shooting

One of the three men believed to be behind the Memorial Day weekend mass shooting in Miami is no longer being charged.

On Wednesday, the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office confirmed that Warneric Buckner would not be formally charged for the mass shooting that took place at El Mula Banquet Hall.

Buckner’s confession on October 6 was obtained after he already asked for an attorney, police said in an interoffice memo obtained by Local 10 news.

Investigators said three suspects opened fire on a crowd outside the banquet hall on May 30.

20-year-old Buckner was arrested in early October, months after the shooting in Northwest Miami-Dade County, where three people were killed, and 20 others were injured.

Buckner was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and 20 counts of attempted murder, but prosecutors dropped the charges against him on Wednesday.

The arrest warrant for Buckner stated that he agreed to speak to detectives and confessed to meeting other people involved in the shooting before carrying out the crime.

However, attorneys say his confession came after he asked for a lawyer and that a lawyer wasn’t present at the time of the confession, making it admissible in court.

Buckner is expected to be released from jail. Still, prosecutors say, “the investigation remains open, and the state will consider pursuing charges at a later time as additional evidence is uncovered.