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Suspect in custody after shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington that injured 4 people

18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins faces three counts of aggravated assault, police say.

Last updated at 7:20 p.m.

An 18-year-old suspect was in custody after a shooting Wednesday morning at Timberview High School in Arlington that left four people injured — one of them critically — as hundreds of anxious families waited hours to be reunited with their children.

Timothy George Simpkins, who turned himself in to authorities about four hours after the shooting, faces three counts of aggravated assault.

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Police said the shooting appeared to have stemmed from a fight at the Mansfield ISD school, and video circulating on social media showed two males fighting in a classroom, though police could not say with complete confidence the footage was recorded Wednesday.

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A 15-year-old boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was recovering in an intensive care unit after surgery, officials said.

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A 25-year-old man was hospitalized in good condition, and a teenage girl who had what police said was a small abrasion was expected to be released later Wednesday. An adult who suffered minor injuries declined treatment at the school, police said.

Officials did not release the identities of any of the victims.

Thursday’s classes were canceled at Timberview and the Early College High School. After-school activities and athletic events were canceled for Wednesday and Thursday. Timberview football coach James Brown said the team is still planning to play Friday’s varsity game at Waco University.

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The shooting

Arlington police said they received several calls about 9:15 a.m. about a shooting on the second floor of the school, at 7700 S. Watson Road, and later in the morning they publicly identified Simpkins as a suspect.

Timothy George Simpkins
Timothy George Simpkins(Arlington Police Department)

“This is not a random act of violence,” Assistant Chief Kevin Kolbye said during a morning news conference. “This is not somebody attacking our schools. … We believe this was a student who got into a fight.”

Simpkins’ attorney, whom police did not identify, later contacted authorities, and the teen turned himself in about 1:15 p.m.

Simpkins faces three charges of aggravated assault. He was booked into the Arlington jail just before 2 p.m., and his bail was set at $75,000.

Police said they did not know where Simpkins went after the shooting was reported.

“This is going to be a long-term, continuing investigation and processing of the crime scene,” Kolbye said.

He said Arlington police were leading the investigation.

Authorities could be seen outside a home in the 600 block of Harris Ridge Drive, about a mile from the school, for several hours after the shooting. About 2:30 p.m., a SWAT team executed a search warrant at the home; they left two hours later.

A woman who identified herself as Simpkins’ mother said her son was bullied and declined to comment further outside the home as law enforcement searched inside. Neighbors said the suspect lived at the house with his grandmother.

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Kolbye said he wasn’t sure how the shooter got the gun into the building. He said that Grand Prairie police recovered a .45-caliber handgun on England Parkway and that federal authorities would run ballistic analysis on it to determine whether it was used in the shooting.

‘I thought we were next’

Wednesday was “old person” spirit day at the high school, and sophomore Chasity Turner was still in her nightgown costume hours later when she finally got to go home.

Chasity, who was in the classroom next to the shooting, heard three shots and immediately called her mother to tell her, “I love you.”

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“I thought we were next — I thought my classroom was next. … I just thought I was never going to see my family again,” she said, holding back tears.

Sophomore Kristian Hawthorne was in his world history class when the alarm sounded. He said he thought it was a drill, but then his teacher instructed him to grab a crowbar and a bat to arm the classroom.

Kristian sat in the dark, without internet, for hours, comforting friends until police loaded students onto buses.

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The aftermath

The school was placed on lockdown as officials conducted what Arlington police described as a “methodical” search. Authorities from Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Mansfield ISD were at the campus, along with the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Mansfield ISD said about 11 a.m. that the “all clear” had been given and that students would soon be taken to the district’s Center for the Performing Arts to be reunited with their parents. Buses began arriving at the center about noon, but the reunification process stretched into the early evening.

All students — about 1,700 in total — had been evacuated from the high school by about 1:30 p.m., Kolbye said. Police teams finished searching the campus about that time and did not find any more dangers.

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Lockdowns also were lifted at other nearby schools. Officials said the police presence had been increased at schools in Arlington and Grand Prairie.

Warning: This video contains offensive language.

Authorities denounced false allegations that circulated on social media after the shooting, saying that online threats from people across North Texas diverted them from substantiated leads and that the people who spread them could face charges.

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“We are not going to tie up resources for those; we’re going to prosecute those,” Mansfield police Chief Tracy Aaron said.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Grand Prairie police said a student who was suspected of making a video that contained a threat to South Grand Prairie High School had been taken into custody. That student’s name and age were not released.

‘He was scared’

Outside Simpkins’ home on Harris Ridge Drive, Carol Harrison Lafayette, who said she’s a family member, said Simpkins had been robbed multiple times.

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“He was scared; he was afraid,” she said, adding that the incidents were recorded. “It wasn’t just one person that would attack him and bully him, taking his money.”

Lafayette said that the 18-year-old took the gun to try to protect himself and that she hoped investigators would get to the bottom of what happened.

“Because he wore nice clothes and because he drove nice cars, because he had the things, he was like a target,” she said. “He was looking forward to graduating and doing something with his life.”

Liz Hasani (center) hugs her daughters Alivia Hasani, 14 (left) and Aminah Hasani, 15,...
Liz Hasani (center) hugs her daughters Alivia Hasani, 14 (left) and Aminah Hasani, 15, outside of the Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021 in Mansfield, Texas. Four people were injured in a shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington on Wednesday morning. (Elias Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News)(Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer)
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Lafayette said that there was no justification for hurting anyone but that “we have to take a look at the fact that bullying is real.”

“It takes us all,” she said. “And I do apologize. We ask as a family for forgiveness of any type of hurt. It was never intentioned for it to go on like that.”

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Antonio Wilson was visiting the Arlington hospital where his 15-year-old friend was recovering.

“I’m just here to show my support for ... [the victim], and I pray and hope that he makes it,” he said.

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‘I knew something was wrong’

Parents waited in long lines outside the performing arts center to be let inside so they could pick up their children. Media members were not allowed inside.

As they waited, a helicopter hovered overhead and police cars and camera crews were everywhere. Students were brought in on buses, but they had to wait inside before they could see their parents.

Police tried to make the wait easier by handing out food and water.

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Most waiting parents already had received good news long before being reunited with their children, as their sons and daughters texted from locked-down classrooms saying they were OK.

Mohammad Nasiri woke up a few minutes before 10:30 a.m. to a text message from his sister-in-law, Fatima Mashriqi, a student at Timberview, that said there had been a shooting.

“I knew something was wrong when she texted me,” Nasiri said.

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His wife — Fatima’s sister, Anisa Mashriqi — already had a phone full of texts from Fatima: She was locked down, trying to keep her classmates calm. A teacher was blocking one of the room’s two doors. Fatima had pressed herself against the other to keep anyone from coming in.

“Call momma and let her know,” Fatima texted. “I love you in case anything happens.”

“I lost it when she said if ‘anything happens,’ ” Mashriqi said later. “You’re like 16 years old, you shouldn’t be saying that.”

The couple and Fatima’s mother, Palwashah Mashriqi, refreshed their phones in search of more news from the media or word from Fatima as they waited for buses to arrive.

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“As long as she’s OK, that’s OK,” her mother said.

“As long as she gets on the school bus,” Mohammad said, pacing.

Ron Franklin of Arlington stood waiting at the back entrance to the school about 11:30 a.m. He said he dropped off his 16-year-old daughter, Dalanie, at the school Wednesday morning but hadn’t heard from her in the two hours since the shooting.

He said he was driving to Garland and immediately turned around to head to the school once he heard there had been a shooting.

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“I just want to make sure she’s good and hug her,” Franklin said. “We’ve gone over these situations before but you think, ‘Maybe I didn’t go over it enough.’ You go over it not thinking that it’ll ever happen and then today it has so you just hope that you prepared her enough.”

Around 11:45 a.m., about two dozen people were gathered on North Webb-Ferrell Road, near South Collins Street. Casey Parker, 39, came to the school with her friend and hairdresser, Cess Cannon, who was in the process of doing her hair when Cannon got the call.

Parker said Cannon calmed herself and called her son, a freshman. She said that there were kids crying in the background and that he said police were running up and down the hallways.

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“At that point, I ripped the foils out of my head, had another stylist rinse my head and said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” Parker said. “She was physically shaking, so I was like ‘I’ll drive you there.’ ”

She said Cannon’s son was OK and was hunkered down in his classroom. “His teacher put on a movie and had to step outside and collect themselves,” she said.

Nancy Jimenez, whose son Jaden Mota is a freshman at Timberview, said that on a scale of 1 to 10, her fear was at 100, but that she was “beyond thankful” that her son was OK.

She also praised teachers who have to work in a difficult environment.

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“Teachers come and they do an amazing job and they have to wonder if they’re going to get out of work alive,” Jimenez said. “Do you have to wonder if you’re going to be alive after your work? I don’t.”

‘Excited to take them home’

About 4 p.m., a line of families was still stretched outside the performing arts center, though a volunteer assured people that the line moved quickly.

About eight people were set up at laptops to check people in. Parents and families waited in one room while a person on a microphone called out the names of students who were ready to be picked up. Students waited in an auditorium across the hall.

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From left: Veronica Garza walks with her children, Jose Gonzalez, 15, Natalie Gonzalez, 16,...
From left: Veronica Garza walks with her children, Jose Gonzalez, 15, Natalie Gonzalez, 16, and Deserae Gonzalez, 19, outside the Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts.(Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

Students and their families continued to file out of the back of the performing arts center through the late afternoon, and most seemed to be in good spirits.

Some parents and children hugged and laughed, while others could be heard talking about the events of the days on the way to their cars. One man took a selfie with a student as they walked out of the building. Some families even brought their pets to greet their students.

Volunteers from several area churches turned out to help with reunification efforts.

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Truston Baba, a pastor at Living Church in Mansfield, said he had about 20 people at the center within 15 minutes of getting a text about the shooting from Mansfield’s police chief, who attends the church. That group swelled to 50 later in the afternoon, a number that heartened Baba.

“This is what the church should do,” he said. “We’re not a church that exists in the walls. We want to get outside the walls of the church to serve.”

Baba said volunteers bought out all the cases of water from a local Sam’s Club and Walmart and brought them to the center. Volunteers also called local restaurants to bring food for families and first responders.

“It’s awesome in our community to see everyone come together, that all the people are here loving and taking care of each other,” said Whitney Barth, Living Church’s executive pastor.

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An Arlington police officer carries bags of evidence from Timothy George Simpkins' home.
An Arlington police officer carries bags of evidence from Timothy George Simpkins' home.(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)

About 4:45 p.m., Elizabeth Aiwonegbe walked out of the center with her daughter, a freshman, and her son, a 10th grader, after waiting in line for about three hours. She had a pizza from Cicis in hand ready for her kids.

She said she was in shock when her son texted her about the shooting.

“It took me time to recover and [say] ‘Oh, yeah, this is real. This is gunshots,’ ” she said.

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Her son, Benedict Aiwonegbe, said he was in the AVID program when he heard the gunfire. He said the students barricaded the door with a shelf and nearby desks, and then hid at the back of the classroom.

He said that once students got to the performing arts auditorium, they mostly sat with their friends and talked about what happened Wednesday morning. Many of them had to leave their backpacks in their classrooms when they left.

Reunited with her children in the afternoon, Elizabeth Aiwonegbe was all smiles.

“We are so happy, so happy they’re back,” she said. “We’re excited to take them home.”

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‘It really breaks your heart’

Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said the victims and their families were very much on his mind and in his heart.

“I’m a father of four and a grandfather of five,” he said. “I empathize with the fear and anxiety associated with the safety of our kids and today’s society.”

Ross said the shooting made him wonder how firearms are getting into the hands of children.

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“Anytime you see something like this in this country, it really breaks your heart,” he said.

Council member Nikkie Hunter, who represents the district where the school is located, echoed the mayor’s sentiment.

“It’s heartbreaking, and it’s extremely heartbreaking every time it happens in any community,” she said.

State Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat whose district includes the school, wrote on Twitter that the situation was a “terrible tragedy.”

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“I am trying to find out more details, but for now, please pray for those injured and the safety of all involved,” Turner wrote.

Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking at a news conference in Mission, said he was concerned for the families.

“What we can say obviously is that we grieve for everyone who has been harmed or impacted by this in any way whatsoever, and we as a state, working with our local communities, will do everything possible to ensure that the shooter is effectively prosecuted,” he said.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, in Washington, also spoke about the shooting, saying, “There have been far too many of these in far too many schools.”

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District’s next steps

Mansfield ISD associate superintendent Donald Williams said the district is evaluating what happened and will move forward with policy changes and disciplinary action from there.

He said the district had a safety meeting about 3½ years ago and “the No. 1 recommendation” was to increase the number of officers on campuses, adding there are no metal detectors at the school.

“We do not have those in place, but the entire situation will be assessed and evaluated,” Williams said.

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Kolbye, the Arlington assistant chief, said two Mansfield ISD resource officers at the campus responded quickly to the shooting.

Officials said victim services from a variety of law enforcement departments were available to students.

Timberview is in the city of Arlington but part of the Mansfield school district. Mansfield ISD includes parts of Mansfield, Arlington and Grand Prairie.

Staff writers Everton Bailey Jr., John Gravois, Naomi Kaskela, Ana Niño and Erin Sood contributed to this report.

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