Gilbert Moralez, a 41-year-old Hispanic medical researcher from Dallas, was fatally shot in Waco in the early morning of February 23, 2024. Moralez had been attending a medical conference and was at Cricket’s Drafthouse with three colleagues when an altercation began after a man from another group pulled the hair of a female colleague. Moralez confronted the man and the parties left the bar to de-escalate.

As they walked through the parking lot, four men from the other group followed and a physical confrontation took place. After the fight ended and Moralez’s group began walking toward the Hilton Hotel, one woman heard a noise she compared to a firework and realized Moralez had been shot. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Surveillance footage from nearby businesses linked the group of men to movements between bars downtown and helped identify suspects. Anyone who was in downtown Waco that night or has information about the altercation in the parking lot is asked to come forward.