Fort Worth police arrested three juveniles in connection to a fatal shooting that took place at a Whataburger near the Paschal High School campus, according to a news release this week.
The fatal shooting, as previously reported by The Dallas Express, happened near Fort Worth Independent School District’s R.L. Paschal High School at 2401 W. Berry Street.
It caused the school to enter a lockdown since students and staff were still in the building, even though the school had already dismissed its students for the day.
Two Paschal High School students were shot during the incident; one victim lost his life and the other was seriously injured.
The fatally wounded victim was identified as 16-year-old Zechariah Trevino. According to reporting by NBC 5 and WFAA, he was shot by one of the suspects eight to 10 times in the parking lot of the Whataburger, where he was employed as a cook.
Trevino was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died in surgery.
The other victim — name currently unknown — is Trevino’s cousin. She was seriously injured in the incident, reportedly sustaining wounds in the leg and torso. Court documents claim that she was shot twice by a second suspect, even as she lay “helplessly on the ground.”
Fort Worth police reported on Monday afternoon that three suspects had been arrested in connection to the deadly shooting: 17-year-old Daniel Reed, 17-year-old Isaiah Nunez, and a 16-year-old juvenile male whose identification has been withheld due to the suspect being a minor. They have been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The arrests were made without incident and through the joint efforts of Fort Worth PD’s Homicide Unit, Intelligence Unit, Directed Response Unit, Fugitive Unit, and members of the U.S. Marshal Service Fugitive Task Force, the release said.
While the incident occurred near the school, police say that the suspects are not enrolled at Paschal High.
According to an arrest warrant for Reed, the suspects had allegedly targeted the teenage girl victim, going to the Whataburger armed and intending to confront her. Both victims had been waiting for their grandmother to pick them up when two cars reportedly pulled into the parking lot and an argument ensued.
Investigators believe that the source of the conflict was a comment — “[Expletive] FMJ,” — that the teenage girl victim had left one of the suspects on the social media app Instagram.
The teenage girl told investigators that the suspects were part of a gang called FMJ. She claimed she had been friends with them until a falling-out caused by her suspicions that they were involved in her sister’s overdose and death.
The Fort Worth PD shared its condolences on its Facebook page.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families, and it is our hope that these arrests can provide them with a sense of justice as they begin to cope with this tragedy,” the post read.
NBC 5 reported that a candlelight vigil was held in front of the University United Methodist Church on Berry Street on Monday night. Clergy and counselors were present to offer support and comfort to the attendees.
Speaking at the vigil, Trevino’s mother Erica said that her faith had made it possible to forgive those involved in her son’s death.
She also said that her son died doing the right thing and had tried to defend his cousin during the incident.
‘’He did exactly what we taught him to do, that was to protect,” she said. “His life wasn’t just taken on selfish acts. He changed all that by standing up for what he believed in, protecting.”
She also said that Trevino was about to become a father, saying “We had so many dreams and expectations for Zechariah. We were very excited. We got things for the baby.”
Fort Worth Chief of Police Neil Noakes voiced strong feelings when speaking to the press about the incident, which he called “another example of senseless, tragic violence that never had to happen.”
“The lack of importance put on human life, the sanctity of human life is staggering to me,” Noakes said. “What I’d like to say to those young people is, you have so much more to live for and so do those you might have a problem with. Whatever the conflict is, a gun is not the answer.”
Reed and Nunez are currently held on $350,000 bonds in the custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. No information has been made available regarding the third suspect — allegedly a driver of one of the vehicles — connected to the shooting.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the shooting, including any video footage of the incident or the events preceding it, is asked to call Fort Worth police detectives at 817-392-4330.
It has been a bloody start to the New Year in the metroplex. In Dallas alone, there have been 702 shooting incidents so far this January, up from 665 last year. A total of 20 have been deadly.
The Dallas Express has reported extensively on the apparent failures of political authorities in combatting the rise in crime, especially within the city of Dallas.
Note: This story was updated on January 25, 2023, to include additional information.
