Community leaders in Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood have made it very clear – Monday night’s violence does not define the strides they’ve made in improving their neighborhood.
“That event last night was a microcosm of what’s happening around our country,” said Estrus Tucker of the Lake Como planning committee. “It happened in Como, but it’s not affiliated with anything of Como.”
Fort Worth Police officers responded to a shooting in the 3400 Block of Horne Street just before midnight on Monday. This was separate from and unrelated to ComoFest, a community event that occurred earlier in the day at another location. Later in the evening, police said a large crowd gathered on Horne Street.
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After shots rang out victims were taken to two Fort Worth hospitals by private vehicles and ambulances. According to Fort Worth police, 11 shooting victims have been identified - three people are dead and eight others are recovering. The victims include ten adults and one juvenile.
Fort Worth Police Department Captain Shawn Murray said the crime scene spanned a couple of blocks in the area of Diaz Avenue and Horne Street. He said it was too soon to know the motive or how many gunmen were involved.
Community members told NBC 5 they believe it did not involve the same people who were part of that city-sanctioned event.
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“That is a completely separate incident from what we do here. We’re all about family, faith and fellowship. We are a community and reunited,” said Ella Burton, president of Lake Como Advisory Council. “I would expect that even the incident that occurred was totally not tied to us, and I certainly wanted to dispel the fact that it was connected to our Como fest.”
The Como neighborhood is not new to violence like this especially in years past during the Fourth of July holiday. Just two years ago there was similar chaos on the night of July 4, 2021, when eight people were shot and a child was hit by a car in the same area as Monday night's shooting.
Community leaders are denouncing the violence and say they didn't want it to stop them from holding the parade on Tuesday. The parade continued in the morning with no issues.
“It certainly is disheartening, but it has not put a damper on it, we still have our same joy,” said Burton.
The parade is a 73-year tradition they hoped would help the community heal.
“I’m not from Como, I’m from Philadelphia and we came out here as retired military in 1982. I wanted to find somewhere as close to home as I can get. And it was Como,” said resident Pat Spence. “When people are doing good, the devil is out there trying to mess it up. We keep on pushing and keep on thriving because ain’t nobody going to stop us from loving each other.”
Residents like Gladys McBride said what happened in Como does not what define her home of 50 years.
"Como is like a family. Everybody knows everybody. We don’t just do for ourselves, we do for each other,” she said. "It's sad. When you're doing good, you know how people try to make you look bad? We’re not that type of family out here.”
Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker spoke one on one with NBC 5 about her disappointment and heartbreak over the violence.
"It’s senseless. You have people come into a family environment with guns and start shooting randomly. We've got to be better in his community,” she said. "We need to disperse people after those fireworks are over at 10 p.m. – this incident happened closer to midnight. Families are trying to go home. And whoever was there was trying to do trouble and trying to wreak havoc on a community that loves one another and is trying to build back, redevelop, and invest in one another."
