Arlington police continue to search for the man who they say killed three people in an Arlington apartment while two young children watched. Allie Spillyards has the latest on the investigation, inlcuding details on a new program police say they plan to use to help track down the killer.
Two men and a woman were killed in a shooting at a South Arlington apartment Thursday evening. The woman's two children were home at the time and were not harmed.
"It was callous," Arlington Police Sgt. Courtney White said. "It was heinous and it was ruthless.”
According to the Arlington Police Department, officers were called to a shooting just after 8:30 p.m. at the Chatham Green Apartments in the 3500 block of Chatham Green Lane.
A person who called 911 reported hearing a loud noise and then saw someone lying near the doorway of a second-floor apartment. The caller also told police the door to the apartment appeared to be kicked in.
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“My, my little girl was like, 'What is that noise?'" neighbor Loqman Mohammed said. "So it's two pops followed by you know, spaced out. Another pop as my wife described it.”
Officers arrived and found a 29-year-old man deceased in the doorway. Inside the apartment, police found a deceased 29-year-old woman and an injured 31-year-old man. The survivor was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.
Two young children were also found inside the apartment. They were not harmed and were released to family members, police said.
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Detectives said Friday that the man and woman found inside the apartment were dating and lived at the apartment with her children. The man found near the doorway, police said, appeared to be an acquaintance who was visiting the couple.
“The male and female located inside of the home were in a dating relationship," White said. "The two children located inside of the home belong to the female. We believe that the incident occurred due to high-risk drug activity.”
Witnesses reported seeing a man in all black running away from the scene after they heard gunshots, but no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been announced.
One neighbor said as a parent his heart breaks for the children.
“I see a police officer hugging a five-year-old and just running him to his cruiser,” Mohammed said.
Fortunately, the children were not hurt. But it's a trauma they and the police must cope with.
“It's just a sad and unfortunate incident and I can only imagine what they're going through," White said. "What they'll have to live through for the rest of their lives as well. As well as the officers that located them on scene.”
White added, “This was a senseless crime and we want the suspect to know that the Arlington Police Department is going to do everything that we can to find you.”
In a press conference Friday, police said they'll rely on a newly announced camera-sharing program that allows residents to opt-in to sharing home surveillance with police and allows businesses to give the department access to live feeds.
“It's not every day that we respond to a triple murder. So any type of surveillance footage that is available to the police department, we're going to comb through it. We're going to through it and just try to determine who did this,” said White.
It’s a crime-fighting tool that’s grown increasingly common and controversial for privacy advocates like attorney Leon Reed, Jr.
“We have to be careful as a society with where we draw the line with technology and our freedom,” said Reed.
Just this week, Amazon announced it would stop allowing police departments to request Ring footage through its app, a move harshly criticized by some law enforcement leadership like the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia.
In response to that decision, Garcia tweeted:
Back in Arlington, officials are asking both those registered to share video with the city and those who aren't to check their cameras for possible video of the man running from the scene.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Detective VanTreeck at 817-459-5691. Tipsters can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County at 817-469-8477.
The identities of the three victims will be released by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office once the families have been notified of their deaths.
