Man accused of firing a dozen rifle rounds into car at North Texas motel arrested
An 18-year-old man who authorities said on July 28 fired at least a dozen .223 rifle rounds into a parked car in White Settlement was arrested Monday, according to a news release from police. The case was initially linked by investigators to a reported kidnapping out of Arlington.
Lewis Calvin Parker III was arrested by Fort Worth police without incident in the 8600 block of Las Vegas Court, according to the news release from White Settlement police. He’s facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, and deadly conduct/discharging a firearm, a third-degree felony.
Officers responded to the shooting call at the Executive Inn in the 8200 block of Interstate 30 service road July 28 around 11:15 p.m. to find a Chrysler 300 in the parking lot “riddled with multiple bullet holes,” according to the news release. The vehicle was leaking fluid and officers found a dozen .223 casings, the same caliber used in AR-15 rifles and variants, in the parking lot.
Detectives at the scene determined the shooting was likely the result of an alleged kidnapping that was reported in the 2000 block of South Cherry Lane, according to police. In that call, a woman told authorities her children were kidnapped in Arlington.
Though it was later determined that no kidnapping took place, detectives initially believed the two calls were connected because the father of the children reported as being kidnapped was staying at the motel at which the shooting happened.
Surveillance footage from the motel showed a gray four-dour Kia Forte pull into the parking lot, being driven by a woman later identified by detectives to be the mother who reported her children had been kidnapped, according to the news release.
When the car came to a stop, the surveillance footage appears to show the mother and Parker, who police have identified as her boyfriend, get out of the car and retrieve a rifle from the trunk. The video shows the two then run toward a man, who retreated into the motel.
Detectives believe Parker pointed the rifle at the man before walking over to the Chrysler 300 and firing the rifle several times into the engine compartment, according to the news release. Both Parker and the woman then ran back to their vehicle and fled the scene, police said. The license plates on the vehicle had been covered by some sort of fabric.
Police said nobody was injured in the shooting. The victim traveled to Arizona after the shooting.
According to police, law enforcement had previous contact with Parker. Because of that and “the propensity for gun violence,” White Settlement authorities asked for assistance from the Fort Worth Police Department in serving the felony arrest warrants for Parker.
On Monday, Parker was taken into custody without incident by the Fort Worth police direct response unit, according to the news release. He was taken to the White Settlement jail.
“The brazen discharge of a rifle at least a dozen times into a parked car with occupied hotel rooms directly behind is completely unacceptable,” White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook said in the news release.
Because the victim had returned to Arizona following the shooting, the police in Buckeye, Arizona, assisted with a photo lineup of the suspect in this case, according to the news release.
Police have not announced any charges against the woman who was driving the vehicle.
