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Timothy Simpkins, the accused Arlington, Texas, school shooter, has been released on $75,000 bond. Videos captured the shooting, in which four people were wounded, according to a police press conference. Police named the suspect, who initially fled the scene, as Simpkins, 18. Video emerged showing Simpkins posting bond.
Timothy George Simpkins, 18, was indicted on three charges of attempted murder, three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon in a prohibited place. After his arrest in October, Simpkins was released from custody on bail.
As Simpkins was processed out of the Tarrant County Corrections Center in downtown Fort Worth, his family defense attorney Kim Cole said the school shooting wasn't random. Said Cole: "This is not someone who was just out to go and shoot up the school and had made up their mind -- 'Hey, I am upset, and I am going to shoot anyone I see.'
Simpkins is an extroverted, well-liked, loving guy, according to Carol Harrison Lafayette, a relative speaking on behalf of the family, who said Wednesday that he was thrilled to graduate from high school. He aspires to be an engineer, according to his family.
Police charged Simpkins with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Carol Harrison Lafayette, a family spokesperson, asserted that Simpkins brought a gun to school for protection, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Simpkins’ attorney, Kim Te’Nee Cole, spoke briefly after he left the jail. She spoke out against what she called a “false narrative” that described Wednesday’s shooting as a “mass shooting.”
The family’s post said Simpkins “became depressed and some days did not even want to get out of bed. I am certain that he was fearful for his safety and felt that he had no support from those in authority whose responsibility it was to protect him.”
After spending hours inside the jail, the family emerged and ushered the teen into a white Mercedes Benz parked outside the building.
Later in the evening, Carol Harrison Lafayette, who said she’s a family member speaking for the family, said at the house that Simpkins was robbed before the attack happened.
Police arrested Timothy George Simpkins, 18, in the morning shooting at Timberview High School in the Mansfield Independent School District.