Texas: Police looking for 18-year-old student Timothy George Simpkins who opened fire at a school

A student identified by police as Timothy George Simpkins opened fire inside a Dallas-area high school, Texas, during a fight, wounding four people before fleeing, although he was later detained by the police.

Timothy George Simpkins he is an 18-year-old student who fled by car after the shooting and was actively sought, according to the police, who considered him “armed and dangerous.” The suspect escaped driving a silver 2018 Dodge Charger with license plate number PFY-6260.

“The suspect is in custody, has been detained without incident and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault with a firearm”Police said in an update conference at 1:30 pm Dallas local time. “Most of the students have been safely evacuated from Timberview High School.”

Of the four injured, three were taken to hospital, Deputy Chief of Police Kevin Kolbye told a news conference. The fourth was treated at the scene with minor injuries.

Kolbye explained that three of the victims are students while the fourth is an elderly person, although he could not clarify whether it is a teacher or a high school employee.

The police were notified around 9:15 am of the shots fired on the first floor of the secondary school Timberview, said the deputy chief of police.

According to Kolbye, it was not a random shooting, but rather the shots were the result of a fight between students in a classroom.

“We believe there was a fight between the student and another individual, and a weapon was used,” said.

The images broadcast on television showed a strong police presence around the study center, which is home to just under 2,000 students in Arlington, a US city located between Dallas and Fort Worth, in North Texas.

An area was demarcated to gather the families of the students, who were evacuated by bus to that place.

After a year of online classes due to the pandemic, American schools reopened.

School shootings have been a persistent problem in American society since the Columbine, Colorado massacre in April 1999.

Since that attack, which left 13 dead, more than 248,000 students have been exposed to gun violence in schools, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.

The figure includes both those caught in the fire and witnesses and those who were evacuated from educational institutions when the shooting broke out.

In 2018 there were 25 school shootings and 23 in 2019.

The deadliest school shooting recently took place in 2018, with 17 killed during a firearm attack by a former student from a Parkland, Florida high school.

With information from AFP

___________________________________