Dallas ISD: Wilmer-Hutchins H.S. shooting appears to be targeted attack

DALLAS - The Wilmer-Hutchins High School community in Southeast Dallas received more answers about the second shooting at the school in just more than a year.

The Dallas ISD Police Department addressed Tuesday's shooting at a news conference.

Dallas ISD Update on School Shooting 

What's new:

Dallas ISD officials confirmed that the suspected shooter, 17-year-old Tracy Haynes Jr., is a student at Wilmer-Hutchins High School.

Police Chief Albert Martinez also confirmed that police have identified the student who opened a side door to let Haynes into the school. That student will be interviewed to determine if he was acting as an accomplice and should face criminal charges.

The chief said that the shooting appears to have been targeted and not random.

"We do believe he went in there specifically targeting an individual. And that's as deep as we'll go with that," Chief Martinez said.

When asked about rumors that the shooting was gang-related, he confirmed that investigators are looking into it.

Police are also still trying to determine how Haynes was able to get a handgun.

"What’s frustrating is that he was able to come in through another door that yes, we patrol and we sweep that as well, but like everything else, we’re not able to be there right on that spot every single time. And there’s a lot of entry doors into this high school," the chief said. 

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said school side and back doors have to be unlocked on the inside for students. However, they are locked from the outside. 

To tackle that problem, the school will staff those doors for the remaining 23 days of the school year.

For next year, the district will consider other options, like adding a buzzer to alert staff about doors that are opened when they’re not supposed to be.

Wilmer-Hutchins High School Shooting

The backstory:

The shooting happened around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, leaving four students with non-life-threatening gunshot injuries.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, police reviewed security video that shows another student letting Haynes into the school through a side door.

Investigators said Haynes began firing at students in the hallway "indiscriminately." He then approached one student who wasn’t able to run and appeared to take a point-blank shot.

Haynes fled the school after the shooting and was able to get a ride to Red Oak from an unsuspecting bystander.

He later turned himself in to the police after contacting Urban Specialists for help. The nonprofit organization works to curb gun violence and poverty.

Antong Lucky said his group got a call from the suspect’s aunt and was able to make contact with Haynes.

"I don’t want to die. I don’t want to get killed. So I will turn myself in," Lucky said. "He said there was back and forth of threats, threats that were going back and forth on his life from the other individuals, etc."

Intake video shows the teen being booked into the Dallas County jail on four counts of aggravated assault in a mass shooting.

His bond was set at $600,000.

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