US Shooting: Student taken into custody hours after Texas school shooting

The mother of one the students comforts her daughter after she became emotional describing the environment during the school shooting at the Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas. Photo / AP

An 18-year-old student opened fire during a fight at his Dallas-area high school on Wednesday, injuring four people and then fleeing before being taken into custody hours later, authorities said.

Timothy George Simpkins was taken into custody without incident, the Arlington Police Department tweeted. He was booked in the Arlington jail on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was being held on $75,000 bail.

One person was in critical condition, another was in good condition and a third person was treated for minor abrasions and was scheduled to be released from hospital on Wednesday afternoon, police said. A fourth person was hurt but did not require treatment at a hospital. Police said earlier that three of the four injured were students.

Students evacuate Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, after Simpkins opened fired inside the Dallas-area high school. Photo / AP

The shooting at Timberview High School, which is in Arlington but belongs to the school district in neighbouring Mansfield, stemmed from a fight that broke out in a classroom, Arlington Assistant Police Chief Kevin Kolbye said at news conference before Simpkins' arrest.

"This is not a random act of violence," he said. "This is not somebody attacking our school."

Timberview serves about 1900 students in the ninth through 12th grades. The sprawling complex opened in 2004.

Law enforcement arrives at Timberview High School. At the the time the shooter has made an escape from the High School. Photo / AP

After news of the shooting spread, parents gathered at the Mansfield Independent School District Center for the Performing Arts about five miles (8km) from the high school to be reunified with their kids, who were bussed over. Among them was Justin Rockhold, whose ninth-grade son had texted him to let him know he was okay.

Rockhold said he has served in the military and he drew on that experience to instruct his son, telling him to keep his head down and be still to stay safe. When asked whether he had thought a shooting could happen at the school, he said his military training is also a reminder of life's dangerous realities.

Police have arrested Timothy George Simpkins. One of his victims is in critical condition at a hospital. Photo / AP

"Obviously in America, in the world we live in today — it's always something. It's in the back of your mind," Rockhold said, adding that he was praying for the injured. "I'm just blessed today that my kid's safe."

The shooting happened just days after a shooting at a Houston charter school that injured an administrator. Texas' deadliest school shooting occurred in May of 2018 when a then-17-year-old armed with a shotgun and a pistol opened fire at Santa Fe High School near Houston, killing 10 people, most of whom were students.