A Texas student accused of opening fire during a fight at his high school Wednesday morning, leaving four people injured, surrendered following a manhunt, police said.
Timothy George Simpkins, 18, was arrested on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting at Timberview High School in Arlington, Assistant Police Chief Kevin Kolbye said.
“This is not a random act of violence. This is not somebody attacking our schools,” Kolbye said at a press conference.
“This was a student, they got into a fight, and drew a weapon,” he added.
Police said Simpkins pulled out a weapon after getting into an altercation around 9:15 a.m. local time on the second floor of the school.
It’s unclear what prompted the fight.
Simpkins fled the scene and retained an attorney who drove him to the police station, authorities said.
A .45 handgun believed to be the weapon fired by Simpkins was recovered in the middle of a Grand Prairie street, police said.
“We brought this to a very quick resolve and without incident,” said Mansfield Police Chief Tracy Aaron, whose officers also responded to the scene.
Police said three of the victims were rushed to the hospital for treatment, at least two of them for gunshot wounds. The other suffered minor injuries and refused care.
Of those hospitalized, one was a 15-year-old boy who underwent surgery for his injuries and was in critical condition, police said.
A teenage girl was grazed by a bullet and suffered an abrasion but was in good condition and expected to be discharged, police said.
The other victims were a 25-year-old man, possibly a teacher, who was in good condition and a pregnant district employee who fell during the shooting
Police said that school resource officers responded “within minutes” to the shooting.
“When police officers heard over the radio that there was a teacher that was in distress, the police officers immediately went to that classroom,” Kolbye said. “And I can tell you that one police officer heard the shots, as he was going up there, so I can tell you that they were on the scene quickly responding to this incident and trying to render aid to those that were injured.”
The 1,900-student school, part of the Mansfield Independent School District, was placed on lockdown until authorities gave the “all clear” around 11 a.m. local time.
A man who said he was a teacher at the school posted a photo of desks and chairs stacked against a classroom door.
“Shots fired at Timberview HS in Mansfield ISD in Arlington, TX. Right in the middle of my discussion of the Battle of Yorktown,” he wrote. “We are in lockdown. The shots were fired just down the hall from our classroom. Our classroom door is barricaded.”
Footage posted to Twitter showed students scramble to take cover as gunshots rang out.
Police said they conducted a “methodical search” on campus with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other local agencies.
Parents were directed to a reunification center at the Center for Performing Arts to meet up with their children.
The shooting came just days after gunfire at a Houston charter school injured an administrator.
The state’s deadliest school shooting occurred in May 2018 when a then-17-year-old armed with a shotgun and pistol at Santa Fe High School fatally shot 10 people, most of whom were students
