Family of teen suspect in Texas high school shooting said he had been bullied, robbed

The family of an Arlington, Texas, teenager suspected of injuring four people in a school shooting said he had been bullied and was recently robbed.

The suspect, Timothy George Simpkins, 18, was arrested Wednesday on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly opened fire at Timberview High School. He turned himself in to police following an hourslong manhunt after he fled the school.

A 15-year-old boy was critically injured in the shooting and taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery, and a 25-year-old man was hospitalized in good condition. It’s unclear what their conditions were as of Thursday afternoon.

A teenage girl also suffered minor injuries and was treated and released. A pregnant woman was treated at the school and was not taken to the hospital.

Oct. 6, 202103:06

Arlington police said the shooting may have begun with a classroom fight but did not reveal a motive.

A witness told investigators that Simpkins had gotten into a physical altercation with another boy, according to an arrest affidavit. The witness broke up the fight and the second boy “ultimately gave up and stopped being combative,” it states.

“When the witness turned around to check on Simpkins, Simpkins had produced a firearm,” according to the affidavit. “Upon seeing the firearm, this witness turned to run out of the classroom. The witness then heard three to four gunshots.”

A second witness said several teachers and coaches intervened in the fight and after it was broken up, Simpkins went into an orange backpack and pulled out a firearm. The witness told authorities that she saw Simpkins point the weapon at the person he had been fighting and fire several shots.

Another witness said they also saw the fight and was struck by a bullet, suffering a graze wound.

Cinthy Wheat, Simpkins’ cousin, said he had been bullied and was robbed about a week ago by a group of kids. She said the robbery did not occur on school property but said Timberview was aware of the bullying.

“He’s not a bad kid, he’s never been in trouble,” she said in a phone call on Thursday. “He was being bullied and was robbed.”

According to Wheat, this was Simpkins’ first year at Timberview. She said he had always gone to private school and transferred to the public high school because he wanted to try something different. When discussing the shooting, she said she thinks Simpkins was “scared.”

“He didn’t have any other options, in his mind. … It’s a sad situation,” she said. “Bullying needs to stop. You can’t keep sweeping this under the rug.”

Timberview is in the Mansfield Independent School District. A district spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the bullying allegations.

Calls to police about the shooting came in around 9:15 a.m. and prompted a lockdown of the school. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, including Arlington police and the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

One parent said her son hid underneath his desk in a classroom when shots rang out. Teacher Dale Topham said he was across the hall and described how students immediately turned off the lights and comforted each other as they took cover.

“The students handled it pretty well themselves,” he said. “They hid. They huddled together.”

The high school, located about 27 miles southwest of downtown Dallas, does not have metal detectors. A district spokesperson said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that law enforcement officers are on every campus and the officer at Timberview responded “pretty swift” to the shooting.