CFBISD Groundskeeper Accused of Killing Boss in Bus Barn

The U.S. Marshals Service has joined in the search for a Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district employee accused of fatally shooting his boss.

Todd Fenton was shot multiple times in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District bus barn late Wednesday night. Fenton, who was on the clock at the time of his death, had been working with his team, which included the suspect in his slaying, Gerardo Alvarez.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, surveillance video shows Alvarez leaving the services building with what appeared to be a gun tucked beneath his shirt, and then tossing the weapon into his car. The shooting was not recorded on surveillance video, police said.

The arrest warrant also states that there was no obvious reason for Alvarez to be at the services building at the time he was recorded. He normally parks his work vehicle at a different location and clocks out there, the document said. Alvarez also had already clocked out for the day, according to the arrest warrant.

CFBISD spokeswoman Angela Shelley said the district has never had a report of any sort of problem between Alvarez and Fenton.

"Not to my knowledge at all, so the motive is definitely not -- we have no idea on that all," she said.

A co-worker found Fenton's body in the maintenance shop at about 11 p.m. He was shot several times in the back. Investigators found at last six shell casings from a 9mm handgun, four bullet fragments and one live outside the office where the body was found.

Shelley said Fenton would often work odd hours after school keeping up the approximately 40 buildings, landscaping and 10 athletic fields.

"Wednesday, when this occurred, is our down day, so that's the day we do a lot of maintenance on athletic fields," she said.

Police believe Alvarez, 36, has left the Carrollton area. Investigators believe he is still in his beige 1997 Mercury Cougar with Texas license plates DC5-J438.

He did not report for work Thursday morning and did not call in sick for the first time as a CFBISD employee.

Carrollton police said Alvarez should be considered armed and dangerous. Cmdr. Doug Mitchell said friends and family should tell Alvarez to surrender if he contacts them.

"We would consider him a very armed and dangerous person to have to deal with, so there's always that risk, and we want to reduce the risk to him, and if he would just surrender himself, there would be no risk," Cmdr. Doug Mitchell said.

Crisis counselors on Friday helped school district workers cope with the loss of Fenton, a longtime maintenance supervisor.

"It's heartbreaking," Shelley said. "It's tragic for everyone in this facility who knew Todd and worked with him for those 15 years. It's just a really difficult time."

She described Fenton as a quiet, likable man who was a hard worker.

"It's just a tragic loss for our school district," she said.

The district is supporting Fenton's wife and two grown children as they grieve. A sign on the door of the family’s Grand Prairie home asks for privacy.

Neighbors said they are stunned by his death.

"It's a sad thing that someone that young with a family and everything and a nice home; it's awful," neighbor Sharon Roman said.

NBC 5's Kendra Lyn and Randy McIlwain contributed to this report.

Contact Us