Heartbreaking texts student sent to mom during Texas school shooting

The heartbreaking texts a Texas high school student sent his mom during a shooting have been released.

On Wednesday, the US was rocked by yet another school shooting, when 18-year-old suspect Timothy George Simpkins pulled out a gun on his fellow students on the second floor of Timberview High School in Arlington Texas.

As reported by CBS News, officials believe that the weapon was pulled after two students started fighting in class. The outlet reports that two victims were shot and another two were injured. This led to three of the four victims being hospitalized, with one needing to undergo surgery.

Now, a screenshot of a series of text messages sent by one of the students at the school to his mother has been shared online.

Posting the distressing messages to Twitter, CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reporter Jason Allen wrote alongside them: "Texts a mother shared with me from her son, during the shooting at a high school today in Mansfield. Captures the moment well".

CBS states that the texts were sent at 9:15 on Wednesday - roughly the same time that law enforcement was responding to a call regarding the shooting.

Allen states that the messages were sent between mom Stella Oigo and her son Tervil.

In the messages, Tervil writes: "mom there's a shooting [...] mom [...] help".

Stella then asks where the shooting is taking place and if her son is safe, to which, he tells his mom that he is "scared" and adds: "Idk [I don't know] mom".

Allen adds in a Twitter thread that Stella and Tervil had lost a family member to gun violence some years ago.

NBC 5 has since reported that Simpkins was released on a $75,000 bond from the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday afternoon.

The teenager has been placed on house arrest with a GPS monitor, is banned from possessing a firearm, and must not have any contact with the victims.

Simpkins' family claim that the teenager has been bullied by multiple people over the fact that he has nice things and has more than others, NBC reports. The family adds that repeated reports to the school about the alleged bullying have been overlooked.

Attorney Kim Cole told reporters: "There are numerous shootings that have happened across this country, and they’re all tragic. However, in this situation, this was not someone who was just out to go and shoot up the school and had made up their mind: hey, I’m upset and I’m just going to shoot up anyone I see."

Several parents spoke to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth about the incident, including one mom who said: "When you wake up in the morning, you think it's going to be one way and it ends up being a completely different way."

"You never know when it's going to be your last day. So I am very thankful to have my daughter with me," she added.

Featured image credit:  Jim West / Alamy (File photo)