Surveillance video obtained by NBC 5 shows the moment gunshots were fired into a large crowd gathering hours after a community festival ended.
The shooting in the Como neighborhood happened just before midnight Monday. It left three people dead and injured eight others.
Fort Worth police said they responded to the 3400 block of Horne Street after 'several unknown males' started firing into the crowd at random and left. Police made clear Tuesday, the incident was separate and unrelated to ComoFest. The community event was held earlier Monday at another location, ending around 10 p.m.
Later in the evening, the crowd gathered on Horne Street. Surveillance video from a convenience store on the same street shows the large group of people running and ducking for cover as shots were fired.
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Long-time community advocate Bob Ray Sanders, who served as co-chair of Fort Worth’s Race and Culture Task Force, visited the area on Tuesday. Sanders told NBC 5, he had to see the aftermath for himself.
“To hear of the tragedy last night, it just shocked me. I’m looking at the debris from last night, thinking about the number of people killed and injured. I’m just in shock,” he said. “Then I saw people driving by in their fast cars and vehicles that were, you know, just…you know, in my mind, being disrespectful to the whole process. I’m confused. I’m really confused right now.”
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One of the victims killed Monday has been identified by family as 18-year-old Paul Willis. On the corner of Horne Street and Houghton Avenue, a small memorial has been started for Willis.
His mother Ka’Desha Weatherly spent most of the day at the memorial. Willis died at the scene, Weatherly said.
"It's my son's first day off from work in months. He's the manager at Mcdonald's. He doesn't even come outside. My baby wanted to be an electrician and get his license," Weather said. "He was a good young man, a great young man. He did not deserve to be killed at 18 for nothing.”
Cecilia Santos joins Weatherly in mourning, losing her daughter 22-year-old daughter Cynthia in the shooting Monday. Santos said her daughter worked at a restaurant and like many others, she wanted to enjoy the evening with her friends.
Fort Worth leaders called the shooting heartbreaking and disappointing.
“Hours of family-friendly fun and beautiful fireworks turn into a deadly mass shooting. It is reminiscent of years before,” Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker said. “We owe it to this community to be better in the future and prevent these kind of things from happening, and I think we’ll all get to play quarterback in the next few weeks about how we improve upon this so 2024 looks a lot different.”
Police have not announced any arrests as of Tuesday night.
