Man lassoed, tackled after rodeo shooting

BARTOW COUNTY — An Austell man remains in custody after deputies said he opened fire into a crowd and wounded three people attending a Memorial Day Weekend rodeo in Bartow County.

Celestino Moras, 25, is charged with aggravated assault in the shootings.

According to deputies, Moras was drunk while attending an annual church picnic and rodeo at a property off Fossetts Cove in Cassville.  The property owner told Channel 2 Action News that Moras was not one of the invited guests.  He said when other guests asked him to leave, Moras stood up, pulled out a pistol and started shooting.  Deputies said as many as 300 guests took off running.

The property owner said when Moras ran out of bullets, one of the rodeo cowboys lassoed him.  Other guests beat him and tied him up until deputies could arrive.  Doctors treated Moras for facial injuries before deputies took him to jail.

Lucikly, the three wounded guests suffered only minor injuries and were treated and released from local hospitals.

The Garcia family lives right next door and heard the gun shots.  The father, Ronaldo Garcia, ordered his children inside when he heard the shots.

"My dad said we had to move in the house," said Isai Garcia.  "He said, we've got to come back inside.  He just wanted to know of there were any people over there with a gun."

Garcia said deputies brought a K9 onto his property as they searched for another man they thought might have been involved in the shooting.

WSBTV