What to Know
- Three people, a man, a woman, and a teen boy, found deceased in East Arlington apartment.
- Man and woman found in apartment had dated and police said the residence had a history of domestic violence calls.
- First call to 911 came after a man finds a woman unconscious and injured in a car; she is being treated at an area hospital.
Arlington police are investigating a shooting that left three people dead and a woman wounded at an apartment complex Wednesday morning.
Police were called at about 5 a.m. to the Windsprint Apartments, near Texas 360 and East Arkansas Lane, after a man called 911 to report a wounded woman inside a car with a bullet hole in the passenger window, said Deputy Police Chief Christopher Cook.
The woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Cook said.
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Meanwhile, officers tracked the car's license plate to an adjacent apartment building, where the front door of one of the apartments appeared to be kicked in.
Three people — a man, woman and a teenage boy — were found dead from gunshot wounds inside the apartment, Cook said. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified the three people found inside the apartment as 36-year-old Christopher Baker, 43-year-old Chasity Williams, and 15-year-old Damajay Williams.
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Mansfield ISD officials confirmed Wednesday, Damajay Williams was a sophomore at Mansfield High School.
"We were alerted of the news today, and it is one that we are handling with extreme delicacy. There will be extra counselors on campus to help our students and staff as they go through the grieving process," a letter to parents and students sent from the high school principal Wednesday reads in part.
The shooter is thought to be one of the three people found dead, Deputy Chief Cook said.
"There’s at least two firearms found inside next to the two of the people," Cook said, referring to what investigators found inside the apartment.
Officials have not determine which guns were used and who fired them. Cook added, family members have told police Baker and Williams were involved in a romantic relationship in the past.
"We started checking history. We have two prior domestic’s at this location, both in April. In one case, I think April 13…there was no offense taken. So, verbal argument. Officers cleared the scene," he said. "In the second case, April 26, we did take an offense report. However, I don’t know the status of that investigation."
Police said they did not receive any calls overnight from residents about gunshots, and detectives are trying to determine what time the shootings occurred.
"If this ends up being a domestic related deal, that’s always tragic and unfortunate. We have so many programs that help people and their relationships to get them assistance before violence occurs," Cook said. "Domestic calls are very high risk for officers and all parties involved, because there’s a high level of emotions involved. We don’t know if that’s exactly what happened here, but again, everybody knew each other. Something terribly went wrong."
Speaking with NBC 5 on Wednesday, Safe Haven of Tarrant County President and CEO Kathryn Jacob said their hotline began experiencing an ebb and flow of call volume and requests for shelter at the beginning of the pandemic. Safe Haven, the only state designated family violence center in Tarrant County, typically receives around 63 to 68 calls a day.
"In 2020, we believe our number of victims of intimate partner homicide increased by double. More than doubled than what it was in 2019," Jacob said. "If you think you might be in an abusive relationship but you don’t know and you want to ask about that, call the hotline. The hotline is not going you demand you leave your partner. It’s not going to demand that you come into shelter. All of the services you can get through Safe Haven and other shelters in Dallas County, those services are anonymous and confidential."
Safe Haven of Tarrant County's hotline can be reached at 1-877-701-7233. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
Police in Arlington are still working to confirm the relationships of all of the victims involved.
