Gunman in deadly Fort Worth shooting stoned to death by angry mob
FORT WORTH, Texas - Police say a group of people in Fort Worth stoned a gunman to death after he killed one person and injured three others.
The incident happened about 1 a.m. Monday in Fort Worth's Como neighborhood on the southwest side in the 5600 block of Shiloh Drive, near Bryant Irvin Road and the Chisholm Trail Parkway.
Police said a "small gathering" was happening in someone's backyard when a person became upset and left. He shortly returned with another person and got into an argument with multiple people. At that point, he shot at least one person, non-fatally, police said.
After that, the other people at the party started chasing the shooter. The gunman then turned around and fired into the small crowd. In response, they began throwing landscaping stones and bricks back at the gunman.
"What we’re saying is some of the people picked up what we call stone pavers. What you line your driveway with points on them. That was something they initially could get," said Tracy Carter with Fort Worth PD. "I don’t want to say maybe used as defense, but that’s what they were able to throw at the gunman."
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Police said the group eventually caught up to the gunman. At that point, the gunman resumed firing at the crowd and hit at least two more people. One person died from their injuries at the scene.
"They either caught him, or he fell to the ground," Carter said. "And at that time, he lost his life what we believe by stones. The ME is going to have to determine that."
A handgun believed to be used by the gunman was found by police.
Carter has a clear warning about the crowd’s reaction.
"Let the authorities handle it. We do not advise someone going after someone who has a gun," he said.
Police are also investigating another shooting Sunday afternoon in the same neighborhood.
Police say a man was shot in the neck but fled the scene before officers arrived and drove himself to a nearby hospital.
Community activist Estrus Tucker says he worries that new Como residents don’t take the same pride in or show the same concern about the neighborhood as the longtimers seem to do.
"We’ve got to do a much better job obviously of managing our anger, of learning to settle a dispute," he said. "We try to find ways to redeem the narrative and say this is not who we are. This is not what we’re about and continue to lift our standards and our expectations for neighbors."
The violence in the Como community comes just weeks after a Fourth of July shooting, in which eight were injured by gunfire after a holiday celebration.
Community leaders in Como are eager to see an end to what they call senseless shootings.
Longtime resident Ella Burton is involved with the Como Neighborhood Action Committee. She’d like to see more resources return to promote positive activities for young people.
"We’d like to see reimplemented some of the programs we had," she said. "Bot back in the day, but we had maybe five years ago some programs. We’d get grants through the community center. Kids, at least, would have an avenue and someone to talk to."
Burton believes some of the violence is the result of pent-up frustrations accumulated during the pandemic.
In this latest case, a shooter was stoned to death by an angry mob. The bizarre killing is still under investigation.
"It’s a great community. It’s an unfortunate incident," Carter said. "People have been very cooperative with detectives."
Police said the people involved all knew each other. At this point, no names have been released of those involved in the incident.
At this point, no charges have been filed. But it’s unclear whether or not that could change.