Shortly after 12:30pm Tuesday, a 16-year-old freshman was shot in an upstairs hallway at North Forest High School, and another student -- 18-year-old Warren Lewis -- was arrested on an aggravated assault charge, according to the North Forest Independent School District.
Lewis' family says he is an honor student, class king and has an after-school job. Even the principal says he's a good kid. Now, he's an accused criminal and North Forest ISD officials scrambling to find out what happened.
Student Keionna White was in class and heard the shots.
"All I heard was, like, just three shots. That's it," she said. "It was like firecrackers."
Lewis' family says the shooting was a result of bullying and he was afraid for his life.
"What he did was wrong, I don't uphold wrongdoing, but he was scared," said Lewis' mother, Yolanda Domino. "He was so scared that he felt like he needed to have something to protect himself, because he said that these boys carried guns and they've been known to shoot people."
"He reports it all the time. Every official knows about the boys bullying him," said his sister, Sabrina Domino.
Domino and her daughters say warren has been under attack by three older students for months and the school was aware. On Tuesday, they say, one of them punched Warren, so he pulled out the gun. The 16-year-old student was shot.
The student was hit in the leg, but the suspect didn't get far. A teacher nearby leaped into action.
"The alleged shooter was apprehended by a teacher at the school who happened to be a deputy constable who was teaching a government class," Davis said.
Lewis is now being held at the Harris County Jail, while the 16-year-old was transported to the hospital, and is expected to be all right.
Sabrina Domino says she doesn't know where her son got the gun, but she feels awful for the victim.
"Warren wasn't trying to hurt your child," she said.
But she also holds the school partly responsible.
"I have been to school so many times and they say they can't do anything because nothing has happened, so now something has happened and my son has gone to jail," Sabrina Domino said.
Officials want to know how the teen got the gun into school, despite metal detectors. Parents and students at the school say they are beyond frustrated by the constant threat of violence.
"I'm tired of it," said freshman Bernadette Garcia. "Why are you going to send someone to school if something happens each and every day?"
The 16-year-old student is expected to be OK.
The school district is reviewing metal detector policies following the shooting. Officials also say anything other than clear backpacks will now be banned from the high school. As a result, the school district is buying a clear backpack for all 1,285 high school students. They hope to have those purchased by next week.
