A high school student is dead and two other people are injured after a fight escalated into gunfire in a southeast Arlington neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
Police provided details Friday afternoon and said they are viewing a video that shows the fight. They are also having school officials look at the video in hopes of identifying the teens.
Lt. Christopher Cook with the Arlington Police Department said Thursday afternoon that at about 4 p.m. a group of teens pulled into a driveway at a home on the 2000 block of Cliffside Drive, near Bowie High School, and that another vehicle with more teens inside pulled up behind them.
Cook said police believe a fight broke out between the groups and that at least one person pulled out a gun and started shooting, hitting three people.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner identified the person who was killed as 17-year-old Anthony Strather, Jr.
Strather was a starting defensive end for the Arlington Bowie High School football team.
"It's just senseless," said Lawrence Smith, Strather's grandfather, with whom he lived. "You can't put it into words something so senseless and a tragedy."
The second teen was shot in the leg and his injury is not considered life threatening. The third victim, an uninvolved man who was sitting inside his home working on his computer, suffered a minor injury that is not expected to be life threatening.
A neighbor who did not want to be identified described hearing several shots and seeing two teenagers on the ground.
"Teenagers were just sitting there, just lying on the ground. One of them was not moving at all," she said "There was a little boy outside that was screaming because he witnessed it."
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The Arlington Independent School District confirmed Thursday night that the teen killed and the student injured were both students at Bowie High School.
"For tonight, the Arlington ISD has canceled the Bowie High School freshman and junior varsity football games against Trimble Tech. School counselors are preparing to assist students through this tragedy and district officials will support the families of the students involved as needed," said Dr. Marcelo Cavazos, superintendent of the Arlington ISD.
Arlington police have not confirmed the ages or identities of the youths involved in the fight or the man injured in his home.
Police said that when the shooting began many of the students at the nearby high school ran toward the chaotic scene and that when officers arrived many of the people involved, suspects and witnesses, were able to slip away.
Cook said investigators will work hastily to try to figure out what happened and make an arrest in the case. Detectives are currently looking for residential surveillance video that may yield clues and hope to speak with the surviving teen about who was involved in the fight and shooting.
"Anytime you have violence, gun violence in particular, and when you think of the young people that are involved, it’s just senseless," said Cook.
Cook said it is not clear how many people may have been armed, but that shell casings found at the scene would tell police if more than one person had a gun.
At this time no suspects have been named and no arrests have been made.
This is a developing story, check back for more information.
