The family of a teenage boy who allegedly shot and injured four people at a Texas high school claim the 18-year-old brought the weapon to school for protection because he was the victim of bullying.
The suspect, identified as Timothy George Simpkins, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after turning himself in yesterday afternoon.
Simpkins’ family maintains that he was a student at Timberview High School and a target of bullies who were jealous of him because he wore nice clothes and drove a nice car.
A cousin of Simpkins wrote about his cousin on Facebook, saying, “at the end of the day, my lil cousin was bullied. I don’t know to feel about this he not no bad kid,” Cint Wheat wrote.
Another relative told the media he was robbed twice at school and frequently targeted.
“He was robbed. It was recorded. It happened not just once, it happened twice. He was scared, he was afraid,” Carol Harrison-Lafayette said while adding “There is no justification of anybody … being hurt.
Simpkins was released on a $75,000 bond on Thursday.
