1 injured in shooting near Mesquite High School

MESQUITE, Texas - One person was hurt after a shooting near Mesquite High School Thursday afternoon.

Students were placed on lockdown around 2:55 p.m. for about an hour while officers surrounded the school. School was let out at the normal time, and students were dismissed as normal.

Mesquite police say the shooting happened in a parking lot near a Wells Fargo. Two people were spotted fleeing the scene and running into the high school.

Student Kendrick Patsy described the scary moments inside of his classroom.

“All I heard was gunfire and everybody just started ducking,” he recalled. “We was in the middle of STARR testing and I panicked.”

Mesquite PD and the school district say no shots were fired on school grounds. They say the gunfire students heard was two blocks away from the school in a parking lot near a Wells Fargo on Main Street. When officers answered that call, they found one person with a gunshot wound.

“Two subjects were seen leaving the scene of the school and running towards Mesquite High School,” said Mesquite Police Lt. Stephen Biggs.

It turns out they were both students. They were seen on surveillance video going into the school after the shooting. The police department sent a lot of officers to the campus, including SWAT teams. The school went on lockdown while officers tracked down the students. Both were taken into custody for questioning.

“At this point, we do not know why they were at the bank or what their involvement was in the shooting,” Biggs said.

Investigators found no weapons at the school or near the bank’s parking lot. Concerned parents or guardians rushed to the school.

Tim Swiney was pacing outside while she was waiting to pick up his granddaughter.

“All I can do is wait. Wait for her to walk out that door over there,” he said.

As the lockdown was lifted, students were let out to be reunited with their parents. It was a welcome sight after initially seeing nothing but the swarm of officers.

Biggs says the SWAT team happened to be training nearby, so they answered the call for backup along with officers on duty.

“Any time there is a school involved and we have any inclination that someone even may a gun, we’re gonna deploy our full resources to address that issue — quickly and safely,” Biggs said.

Police have released few details about the person who was shot, only saying that they were taken to a hospital.

Biggs said they are still trying to sort out the circumstances surrounding the shooting.