Staff, Reporter
9:16 PM on May 23, 2024 CDT — Updated at 6:00 AM on Jun 2, 2024 CDT
Five people were arrested after a Fort Worth shooting that wounded six people, including several children, earlier this month at an apartment complex, police officials said.
Jamal Piper, 17; Hayden Bates-Vellmure, 18; Jordan Elijah Jackson, 20; Allan Gilbert, 18; and Patrick Biscoe, 19, were arrested in connection with the May 1 shooting in the 3000 block of Las Vegas Trail. Jackson and Bates-Vellmure were booked into jail Wednesday and the other three were booked Thursday, records show.
Fort Worth police officials wrote in a news release they each face six counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle as well as one count of deadly conduct — discharge of a firearm at habitation.
Officials wrote the suspects were identified through information from witnesses and surveillance video. Police detectives believe the shooting was targeted toward a person that lived near the area and near one of the suspects, the release stated.
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An arrest-warrant affidavit said the victims included three children, ages 3, 6, and 7. There were also three teenagers: two 14-year-olds and an 18-year-old.
A Fort Worth police detective wrote in an affidavit that surveillance video captured a red Kia Soul driving past and shooting at a group of children and adults standing outside of an entryway into the apartment building. Officers later found the car in a different area and arrested Bates-Vellmure, who was part of a group of people near it.
Bates-Vellmure told detectives that he slept with a woman and her child’s father found out and began to threaten him on Instagram and in text messages, saying he was going to come hurt him and his family, the affidavit stated. Bates-Vellmure knew the man lived at an apartment on Las Vegas Trail because he saw him outside the area with a large group of people.
According to the affidavit, he passed by once, came around again and “let off fire.” Bates-Vellmure told police that “AJ and Pat,” later identified as Gilbert and Biscoe, allegedly fired shots while he was driving. He remembers hearing 10 or 15 gunshots.
In a separate interview with police, Piper said that Bates-Vellmure set up the shooting, the affidavit stated. They passed by the apartment once but did not see the man Bates-Vellmure had a conflict with outside. Once they passed the second time, Piper told police that Bates-Vellmure said “there he goes” and “to shoot.”
Police Chief Neil Noakes said the night of the shooting it “makes me sick to my stomach” knowing that children were among those wounded.
Zaeem Shaikh, Staff, Reporter. Zaeem Shaikh is a reporter covering breaking news for The Dallas Morning News. He grew up in Fresno, California, and graduated from Fresno State University in 2022. Before joining The News, he has reported for The Sacramento Bee, CalMatters and the Oregonian.
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