Greensboro Shooting Investigation: Third Suspect Faces Charges After 10 Hurt at Royal Banquet Hall

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Greensboro police have announced a third arrest in the investigation of an August shooting at Royal Banquet Hall that injured 10 people, including four teenagers. The latest development adds serious assault charges to a case that has also prompted a city safety inspection and the closure of the event venue.

Police identified the newly charged defendant as Taiwan Jahmel Howard Jr., 19, of Greensboro. Investigators allege he was involved in the shooting and have charged him with 10 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and one count of discharging a firearm within an enclosure to incite fear. These are criminal allegations; Howard is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Police Chief Kamran Afzal said the department's investigation established that the gunfire stemmed from a personal conflict involving Howard and another person who was injured at the venue. Officials initially described nine people as having been hospitalized, but later clarified that a tenth victim had been grazed by a bullet and treated at the scene. Four of those injured were minors.

Investigators described an unusually extensive forensic effort. According to the police department's account of the case, personnel collected approximately 700 pieces of evidence and took more than 3,900 photographs of the scene. Afzal said the forensic division logged about 200 hours of work over 10 days. That work helps explain why a significant charging announcement arrived weeks after the shooting rather than immediately after officers responded.

Howard had already been jailed since August 13 on allegations arising from a separate shooting. Police said those earlier allegations included firing into occupied property and other weapons offenses. Court reporting indicates he remained detained without bond in the banquet-hall case.

Two other people, Carlos Withers and Edward Lindsay III, were previously arrested in connection with the banquet-hall incident and charged with going armed to the terror of the people. Police have said the investigation is continuing. The existence of multiple arrests does not establish that every person's alleged role was the same.

The aftermath has also extended beyond the criminal case. The banquet hall at 3821 West Gate City Boulevard was ordered closed after a joint inspection requested by police identified code violations. Greensboro police, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, building and electrical inspectors, and the Greensboro Fire Department took part in the safety review. City officials said the business could not reopen without addressing the issues identified.

For residents and businesses along the West Gate City Boulevard corridor, the investigation raises two separate questions: what happened during the shooting and what standards should govern crowded event venues. Police have provided new information on the first question, while the city's closure order underscores the second. Further court proceedings and any additional investigative announcements will determine what is established next.