TCU shuttle bus driver faces murder charge in death of fellow driver

A shuttle bus driver at Texas Christian University was in jail Thursday facing a murder charge in the death of a fellow driver who died after being hit by a shuttle bus.

Eric Hampton, 52, of Fort Worth, was in the Fort Worth Jail, where he as been since Nov. 7, when he was arrested and accused of assaulting 52-year-old David Mitchell.

But the charge was upgraded to murder Wednesday against Hampton, who was a driver for Roadrunner Charter.

On Nov. 7, campus and Fort Worth police responded to a shooting call on the TCU campus involving two shuttle drivers.

Hampton was accused of shooting at Mitchell, but missing him, and then striking Mitchell with a shuttle bus he was driving, police said.

The two employees of Roadrunner Charter, a contractor with TCU that provides shuttle bus service, got into an argument, Fort Worth police said.

The campus was locked down for about an hour. There were no students or faculty members on the buses at the time of the incident.

Initially, police believed the injuries to Mitchell were minor, but he died earlier this month.

According to Mitchell's family attorney, who spoke to WFAA-TV, Mitchell sustained head trauma, severe bruising and other injuries during the November attack.

Texas campuses are permitted to have concealed handguns as of August, but TCU opted out. Only police officers are allowed to carry weapons on the TCU campus, university officials said.

TCU temporarily placed armed guards on the shuttle buses. A shuttle bus supervisor conducts a daily sweep for weapons on the buses.

Domingo Ramirez Jr.: 817-390-7763,@mingoramirezjr

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 9:54 AM with the headline "TCU shuttle bus driver faces murder charge in death of fellow driver."