SCHOOL shooting suspect Tim Simpkins celebrated after being freed from Tarrant County Jail on a $75,000 bond while some of his alleged victims remained hospitalized.
The 18-year-old enjoyed a welcome home party with relatives one day after allegedly shooting a 15-year-old boy “seven or eight times”, a teacher Calvin Pettitt in the back and grazing a teenage girl at Timberview High School.
Videos of Simpkins appeared on social media showing him enjoying a gathering in his family's kitchen, clutching a baby and embracing others.
Simpkins is facing three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
But as Simpkins enjoyed being his jail release, Timberview English teacher Calvin Pettitt was recovering in the hospital from taking a bullet in his shoulder that narrowly missed his aorta, according to the Daily Mail.
The unidentified 15-year-old boy victim who was struck multiple times is listed in critical condition at a hospital.
According to police, the grazed teenage girl had been hospitalized, but is in good enough condition to be able to be discharged.
A fourth victim, a pregnant teacher, was injured in a fall but was treated at the scene and wasn't taken to a hospital.
TIMBERVIEW TERROR
At around 9.15am on Wednesday, Timberview students were thrown into a terrifying situation of an active shooter situation on their campus.
Some sent text messages to their parents to tell them they were "scared" and "this is not a drill."
In one now viral exchange one boy told his mother: "Mom there's a shooting. Mom help. Mom I'm scared."
Messages show he replied "IDK [I don't know] mom" when asked if he was safe.
Another mother, Kimberly Middleton, told CBS her daughter text while she was at work and said: "Mom, this is not a drill and I love you."
"That was a little hard for me this morning," Middleton added.
FAM: 'SHOOTER WAS BULLIED'
The 18-year-old was reportedly held on $75,000 bail; meanwhile, a SWAT team executed a search warrant at the home where Simpkins lives with his grandmother on Harris Ridge Dr.
Arlington Police Department confirmed they performed a "methodical search" of the campus following the shooting.
Grand Prairie police chief Daniel Scesneya noted a handgun was recovered in Grand Prairie and is being sent to ATF to determine whether it’s the weapon used in the shooting.
That gun is allegedly a .45-caliber handgun that he may have used that was found on a street a few miles away.
The Arlington Police Department said the shooting happened as a result of a fight and a total of four people were hurt.
Simpkins turned himself in to authorities later on Wednesday.
He reportedly lawyered up as his attorney drove him to Grand Prairie Police Department to turn himself in.
"We had some communication with his attorney," said Arlington Police Asst. Chief Kevin Kolbye.
"He did report to an attorney he was talking to our homicide detectives he drove him to our police station we took him in to custody."
Simpkins' family say the accused teenage shooter was a victim of bullying, after he was charged over Wednesday's classroom shooting.
Carol Harrison Lafayette claimed Simpkins was being robbed prior fighting and firing the gun.
“It was recorded. It happened not just once, it happened twice. He was scared, he was afraid," said Lafayette, adding that “There is no justification of anybody being hurt.”
"It wasn't just one person that would attack him and bully him, taking his money.
“We have to take a look at the fact that bullying is real. And it takes us all. And I do apologize. We ask as a family for forgiveness of any type of hurt.”
Lafayette later told told Fox 4 News the family didn't condone Simpkins' decision to shoot a gun at school.
"The decision he made, taking the gun, we are not justifying that," relative Carol Harrison Lafayette .
"That was not right."
Simpkins' cousin Clint Wheat wrote on Facebook continued to say the young man was being mistreated.
“At the end of the day my lil cousin was bullied. I don’t know to feel about this he not no bad kid," the post reads.
GUN 'FOR PROTECTION'
Lafayette said Simpkins had taken a gun to school for protection.
"Because he wore nice clothes and because he drove nice cars, because he had the things, he was like a target," she added.
She maintains Simpkins fired the gun in defense.
"But he was trying to protect himself, Lafayette said. "We hope the police department does the investigation properly."
The Mansfield Independent School District said they are conducting a full investigation into the shooting when asked about concerns of bullying.
VICTIMS RUSHED TO HOSPITAL
Pettitt's sister, Grace Rinearson, said a bullet narrowly missed his aorta, leaving him with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
"Feeling extremely blessed and thankful. Please hold you loved ones close, this is a crazy world we're living in," she had tweeted.
She posted a frustrated tweet after Simpkins' release: "How can this keep managing to get worse," she wrote, according to the Daily Mail.
SHOTS FIRED
A person claiming to be a teacher at the high school shared a Facebook post showing his classroom door barricaded with chairs and desks.
The alleged teacher said shots were fired "right in the middle of my discussion of the Battle of Yorktown. The shots were fired just down the hall from our classroom. Our classroom door is barricaded."
Police say about 1,700 students were present in the school at the time shots were fired.
Timberview High School is located near Dallas and Fort Worth.
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