On a summer evening on August 13, 2017, a day of racing and entertainment at the Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin, turned deadly. Derek Edwards, a 26-year-old Black / African American male from North Aurora, Illinois, was attending "Larry's Fun Fest," an event that drew thousands of people for a car show and drag racing. As evening approached, around 7 p.m., Edwards and two other men, 30-year-old Khalid Howard of Aurora and 30-year-old David Watson of Oswego, were near a
concession stand in the parking lot area.
In a sudden burst of violence that shattered the festive atmosphere, a gunman approached the three men and shot them multiple times at point-blank range. The attacker specifically targeted the victims, maneuvering around other people to reach them. The scene descended into chaos as panic erupted among the crowd of roughly 5,000 attendees. In the ensuing confusion, the shooter, believed to be a single individual, managed to flee and disappear into the crowd. Two of the men, including Edwards, died at the scene, while the third was pronounced dead in an ambulance en route to the hospital.
The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department immediately launched an investigation into the triple homicide. Investigators quickly labeled the killings as a targeted, gang-related incident, stating that all three victims were known gang members from Illinois. The sheriff noted that the father of one of the victims was a high-ranking gang member. However, the investigation was hampered by a lack of cooperation from some family members and witnesses, which made identifying a suspect more challenging. In the weeks following the shooting, the FBI intervened, offering a substantial reward of up to $25,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of the person responsible for the murders. Despite these efforts, the gunman remained at large, leaving the case unsolved and a community searching for answers.
