Community unites in prayer at Arlington church after shooting at Timberview High School
From an Arlington pulpit Wednesday night, there was a torrent of prayers.
At Cornerstone Baptist Church, the calls to God referenced the students and teachers who were at Mansfield Timberview High School when, police said, a student fired on others in a classroom, shooting a classmate and an adult.
There were prayers for parents dealing with the new nightmares of their children and for the police officers and paramedics who swept in on Wednesday morning.
There were prayers, too, for the suspect, a senior. Timothy Simpkins left the school after the shooting and later turned himself in to police, authorities said. He was arrested on suspicion of three counts of aggravated assault.
“The reality was it was one person who took his problem, his hurt,” to the high school’s second floor, said Vera McKissic, a church ministry director. “We don’t know what got him there.”
McKissic considered the position of Simpkins’ mother.
“I cannot imagine the disappointment and the ache in her heart,” she said.
Timberview student Ashlyn Henson, 15, said she was on a choir field trip when the shooting occurred. She was filled Wednesday night with fright. She could have been in danger had she been on the school’s campus.
“I just want to remind everyone just to go home and hug your family,” Henson said with a voice choked in emotion. “Just tell them you love them.”
Relatives of Simpkins, 18, said that he had been bullied and robbed at his school and brought a handgun to protect himself.
Al Curley, the church’s youth pastor, discussed possible responses to misfortune.
“When we [got] news of the tragedy that took place at the Timberview High School this morning, some people needed to hear that Jesus loves them to give soothing balm to their aching heats and to their worrisome minds.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 11:51 PM.
