Family of School Shooting Suspect Speaks Out, Alleges He was Often Bullied, Targeted by Classmates
Arlington, Texas - Following the release of Timothy Simpkins from Tarrant County Jail, the teen boy’s family held a press conference, asserting that bullying played a part in the teen resorting to violence.
According to Carrol Harrison, a spokesperson for the Simpkins family, the teen was afraid and trying to protect himself due to repeated bullying incidents.
The family claims the school was notified of the bullying several times but never addressed the incidents.
“We have to take a look at the fact that bullying is real, and it takes us all…”
During the press conference, the family asked for forgiveness for the situation, asserting that they are not justifying Simpkins’ actions.
The mother of Timothy Simpkins took to Facebook recently to address all of the rumors and allegations regarding her son’s situation.
Read it in full below:
“If the photo you see on your screen right now were the first image you saw of my son, what type of child would you say that he was? Would you be able to believe that he was a polite and kind young man who comes from a 2 parent home? Would you believe that he was a brilliant young man who is a straight-A student, who until just recently attended private school, and who has a impressive GPA? Would you believe that he has dreams of attending college and becoming a Engineer?
The irony is that all of these things are true of Timothy Simpkins, but it only took the media 1 day and 1 questionable photograph to convince the country that my son was a menace to our society and nothing could be further from the truth.
Timothy has always been a kind and thoughtful child who loves to learn. Because he spends so much time focusing on his studies, most of his relatives call him the "little nerd" of the family. He has never been known to bother anyone and would do anything to help someone in need.
From the beginning of this school year, Timothy has been bullied at school. He has been beaten, taunted, and harassed on a daily basis. Recently he was ambushed by a group of young males outside of school, stripped of his clothing in front of a crowd of onlookers, and robbed of his money and possessions. He has been humiliated and stripped of his dignity on more than one occasion which led to him being fearful to go to school or even leave our home without an adult. All of these occurrences were brought to the attention of the Arlington school system and absolutely nothing was done to protect my son. He became depressed and some days did not even want to get out of bed. I am certain that he was fearful for his safety and felt that he had no support from those in authority whose responsibility it was to protect him. Today I am appealing to you as a mother who knows her son. Not the picture that the media has painted of him, but the child I and his grandparents raised him to be after his father’s death.
Many of you have seen the video of the brutal beating Timmothy received - he never even returned a blow- he simply balled up and covered his head. But the backstory that you don’t know is that his father was brutally beaten to death and this fact definitely heightened Timothy’s fear for his life not to mention that the young men responsible for beating and harassing him recently made threats to kill him so you see, my son was terrified and believed he would be murdered just like his father.
I believe my son's entire story should be heard and I am asking that you help me share it in an effort to balance the one-sided narrative that the media is broadcasting. Please know that I am not suggesting that taking a gun to school was the right choice to make, I am just saying that there is so much more to the story and all of the details should be known so that my son can be properly defended.”
Source(s):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1786516980/posts/10215298939745208/?d=n