Police have taken into custody the suspect in a school shooting that left four people wounded at Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday morning, according to officials.
“The suspect has been taken into custody without incident and charged with multiple counts of Aggravated Assault with a gun,” the Arlington Police Department tweeted. “Most students have been safely evacuated from Timberview High School. Thank you for everyone’s help.”
Police identified Timothy George Simpkins, an 18-year-old black male, as the suspected shooter and conducted a search for Simpkins involving U.S. Marshalls and local law enforcement.
Police said Simpkins was considered armed and dangerous.
“This is not a random act of violence. This is a student that got into a fight and drew a weapon,” Assistant Police Chief Kevin Kolbye said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Twitter users are claiming that a fight, shown in video posted to social media, led up to the shooting, but the video could not yet be verified.
“#BREAKING: There is a potential active shooter at Mansfield Timberview High School. The campus is currently on lockdown. This is video from inside the school taken by a student. #ntTV #WeAreNorthTexas,” the outlet tweeted.
One student inside the school reportedly caught the sound of gunfire on her phone, according to North Texas TV.
According to NBC DFW, the Mansfield Independent School District confirmed to parents that there was an active shooter situation at the high school. The letter noted that students and staff were locked down and no visitors were allowed on campus.
“We are on scene at a shooting at Timberview High School. We are doing a methodical search,” the Arlington Police Department tweeted. “We will be announcing a parent staging location soon once the location is identified”
“All Parents –@mansfieldisd is setting up a parent reunification point at the Center for Performing Arts located at 1110 W. Debbie. Officers will be at that scene,” the department added in a separate tweet. “Students will eventually be bused to that location after the school is completely secured.”
ATF Dallas is also on the scene, according to the bureau’s official twitter account.
“BREAKING: ATF’s Dallas Field Division is on scene at Timberline High School in Mansfield, TX, in response to the shooting event,” the ATF tweeted. “Arlington PD is handling the dissemination of information at this time. @ATFDallas@ArlingtonPD.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz addressed the shooting during a press conference Wednesday.
“I know all of us are lifting up in prayer the students and the teachers and the first responders and the parents. There have been far too many of these in far too many schools,” Cruz said. “We are grateful for the courage and the heroism of the first responders and we are hopeful that all of the students or individuals who may have been injured will come through and survive.”
