Mason Stopps, 17, faces aggravated assault charges in the shooting of 14-year-old student. White Settlement police are searching for the weapon used.
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — Police dashcam video shows police approaching a truck driven by 17-year-old Mason Stopps, accused in a violent shooting. Officers already knew the young suspect used an AR-15 style rifle, police said.
The shooting happened in White Settlement.
Police Chief Christopher Cook said, “[The victim is] still in the hospital. We don’t know when he’s going to be released. He will survive. But he was shot with a 223 round. That’s a very large bullet fired.”
Just before midnight on Oct. 22, officers rushed to ahome on Ralph Street. They learned a 14-year-old boy jumped out of the window of the family’s RV to escape gunfire allegedly coming from Stopps.
“It makes no sense. This could have been completely avoidable,” said Cook. “And we think based on the facts that we know today, this is over a girl.”
Officers recovered four rounds from an AR-15 style rifle before getting a break in the case. Police went door-to-door along Ralph Street to find anyone who may have seen or heard anything connected to the shooting.
“We got a break in the case on surveillance video of a neighbor nearby that showed us the suspect vehicle and showed us the suspect arriving,” said Cook.
Bodycam video shows Fort Worth police arresting Mason Stopps on Oct. 29. Although his parents have cooperated with police, investigators said Stopps refuses to tell what he did with the AR-15 style rifle seen on the home security video.
“The video that we have shows that there’s a second kid, I’m calling him a kid, that is walking around with a rifle,” said Cook.
Cook credited their arrest of the 17-year-old to recently teaming up with other police departments called Interlocal. The program allows officers to operate outside of jurisdiction lines and assist other departments.
Eventually White Settlement investigators made contact with Stopps on his cellphone. During those conversations, the teenager eventually agreed to surrender. But, investigators used technology to track him down and conduct a safe traffic stop.
“He was telling us he was going to come by. Based on kind of looking at his where his phone was that we knew he probably wasn’t going to come by, but we were able to knock him down on a traffic stop in Fort Worth'” said Cook. “So again, the new shared services agreement, we’re working together, partnership is going great and we were able to get this fugitive off the streets.”
As a precaution, White Settlement police officials have informed local school resource officers about their ongoing investigation since it involves students and weapons.
The investigation revealed that Stopps went to the victim’s home with at least two other teenagers who police hope to also identify.
Now, Cook hopes parents will teach their kids better conflict resolution skills.
“At the very basic core, parents got to get involved,” said Cook. “They’ve got to monitor their kid’s social media usage. They need to be in their kids’ phones. And I know I’m a parent. I’ve got teenagers. They don’t want me in any of their business. But you’ve got to have these candid conversations because sometimes, as you point out, kids don’t make the best decisions.”
Investigators would like to hear from anyone who may have information on the other teenagers involved or the whereabouts of the AR-15 style rifle allegedly used by Stopps.
The 17-year-old faces aggravated assault charges and also charges related to the AR-15 style rifle used in the shooting. Stopps is in the Tarrant County jail.