‘I’m on edge.’ Fort Worth neighborhood shaken after teen, 5-year-old fatally shot

Residents in the Quarter Horse Estates neighborhood in northwest Fort Worth were anxious Monday as reporters and the occasional police officer drove through Steel Dust Drive.

On Sunday, a 17-year-old and 5-year-old were fatally shot at a home in the 8500 block of Steel Dust Drive. They were identified Monday as Rayshard Scott, 5, and Jamarrien Monroe, 17. An 18-month-old was also injured, but is expected to survive, Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said Sunday.

Monroe attended Saginaw Boswell and Watson high schools in the Eagle Mountain school district, a spokesperson said. He last attended classes in January.

At the home where the shooting happened, a white sign leaned against the front door with the words, written in pink and purple marker: “Love thy neighbor. We are here for you.” The names “Jammarien” and “Rayshard” were written in smaller letters on the sign beneath “Rest in love Kings.” Higher up on the door, two bullet holes were visible in the navy-colored wood. More bullet holes were visible in the garage door.

Residents described the neighborhood as a place where children frequently played together in the street and yards. In October, residents held a Halloween Festival on the street where families — including Rayshard’s — gathered. Lauren and Tanner Patten said they often saw Rayshard and the toddler playing in the front yard together.

“It’s a very calm neighborhood,” Lauren Patten said on Monday. “Now I’m keeping watch on every car that comes by. I’m on edge.”

Tanner Patten is a teacher, but he called in Monday to stay home with his wife because she was shaken up from the shooting. Lauren Patten was home alone, brushing her teeth, when she heard the gunshots a few doors down at around 2:15 p.m. She dropped her toothbrush in the sink as she listened to more than a dozen shots outside. Some of her neighbors started to call her to ask if she was OK. One of them told Lauren Patten they heard someone screaming, “They shot my child.”

When police started to arrive a few minutes later, Lauren Patten went to her neighbor’s house. Tanner Patten had been at Sonic when his wife called. By the time he rushed home, the street was completely blocked by police, firefighters and paramedics. They watched as the toddler — who had minor injuries — was taken away on a stretcher.

Other neighbors were on edge, as well. Several did not answer their doors and declined to talk with reporter through Ring and ADT doorbell cameras. As Boss Ndosimau spoke with reporters, he stepped out of his doorway to watch a car drive down the road and turn around. He did not stop watching the car until it turned off the street.

Ndosimau said he was the first person to move onto Steel Dust Drive three years ago. Ndosimau was at church, where he works, and his wife was asleep when the shooting happened. He only knew something was wrong when the Ring doorbell went off, and he saw through the camera that police were at his door. It was the first time he had ever seen a police officer in the neighborhood.

“We moved here because it was safe,” he said.

But now, he, his wife and their three kids are afraid. He travels sometimes and they are left at the home alone. Now, he doesn’t want to do that anymore.

A few doors down from where the shooting happened, a neighbor — who asked the Star-Telegram not to use his name — unloaded furniture from his truck. He said it was his son’s birthday, but the day had been hard — his son was good friends with one of the children who was shot.

He said he had not heard from the family since yesterday, but he was concerned about them.

“It’s tough. I saw things I wish I had never seen,” he said. “It’s traumatizing. Their kids hung out with my kids.”

He said his family recently moved from Chicago, and they chose the neighborhood because it was peaceful and safe. But “it could happen anywhere.”

“There’s always evil,” he said.

Another neighbor said he and his wife had felt safe in the neighborhood since they moved there in June 2020. But on Monday, his wife was inside searching for new houses.

“So that tells you how she feels,” he said.

Since the beginning of 2022, at least 17 juveniles under 18 have been fatally shot in Tarrant County, according to data from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

More than 100 young people of middle- or high-school age in Tarrant County have died from gun violence since 2016.