Two juveniles are in Fort Worth Police custody after an Arlington Heights High School student shot a handgun during a fight in the McDonald’s parking lot across from the school Thursday afternoon, Sgt. Steve Enright said. No one was hurt.
Enright said a student fired a shot. Police originally believed another student picked up the gun then returned to school, however the gun later found in the second student’s possession turned out to be a CO2 air pistol, and not the pistol fired outside of the McDonalds. That student found with the air pistol was arrested, Enright said.
Enright also said that the gun fired at the McDonalds is still missing.
Clint Bond, the External & Emergency Communications Director for Fort Worth ISD, said that up to three students could be arrested.
Witnesses said the fight happened around 1:45 p.m. while Arlington Heights students were on their lunch break.
A receptionist at Boyd W. Douglas Podiatry, which is across the street from the McDonald’s, said she saw at least three teenagers running through the parking lot and a woman chasing after them. She also said that the woman then directed the police on which way the teenagers ran.
At Arlington Heights, the campus was put into lockdown. By coincidence, the school had conducted lockdown drills earlier in the day.
“We thought it was just another drill at first and then when we realized it was not a drill it was really scary,” freshman Savanna Gunn said. “We were all just huddled against the wall.”
Junior David Dominguez said he knew the lockdown was real when his teacher started rushing to get students inside. Dominguez said he then ran outside as well to bring more students back into the building from their lunch break.
Once inside, students remained on lockdown for almost two hours as they waited for news.
“None of our teachers knew exactly what was going on,” said freshman Ella DeMott. “They just had to keep us in the classroom.”
Gunn said that the students passed the time talking to each other on their cell phones.
“We were all checking Snapchat and texting each other to spread the word about what was happening,” Gunn said.
Police left the school around 3:45 p.m. and the lockdown was lifted before the students were dismissed for the day. Gunn said that there was continued supervision as students left school.
“They walked us out to make sure we were safe,” Gunn said. “There were people posted everywhere.”
7:03 p.m.: This story was updated to reflect that the gun found on campus was a CO2 air pistol and not the weapon fired at the McDonalds