Rockdale bar shooting turns fatal, suspect faces murder charge

A night at Boogie’s Texas Bar & Grill ended with a homicide investigation, a murder warrant, and a $750,000 bond after police said a shooting that began as an aggravated-assault case became fatal when the victim died.

Rockdale police said they got multiple 911 calls shortly before midnight on April 17, 2026, reporting shots fired at the bar at 220 South Wilcox Street. Officers found one gunshot victim inside: 28-year-old Coby Ward of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Ward was flown by PHI Air Medical to Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, where he remained in critical condition until police were notified on April 20 that he had died.

Investigators said witness statements and video evidence pointed to 23-year-old Raymond James McBride Jr. of Rockdale as the sole suspect. McBride was first arrested on April 18 at about 10:56 a.m., according to the Milam County Sheriff’s Office roster, and booked into the Milam County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. At that point, the case centered on a shooting injury. Once Ward died, the legal picture changed completely.

Police then obtained a murder warrant for McBride. KXXV reported that he surrendered to the Milam County Jail without incident after the death was confirmed. FOX 44 reported on April 22 that McBride had posted a $750,000 bond and had been released from jail. The investigation involved the Rockdale Police Department, the Milam County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

For prosecutors, the shift from aggravated assault to murder is more than a paperwork change. The state now has to prove not just that McBride used a deadly weapon at the bar, but that the shooting caused Ward’s death. That raises the stakes for every witness statement and every frame of video tied to the scene inside Boogie’s Texas Bar & Grill.

The case moved quickly from a late-night bar shooting to a homicide file, with Ward’s death on April 20 becoming the turning point. What began as an assault arrest now carries the weight of a murder charge, and the evidence collected in Rockdale will determine how far that charge can go.