FORT WORTH, Texas — On the far west side of Fort Worth, it was all the apartment complex residents could talk about Tuesday. Just after midnight, three people died in what police believe was a double murder-suicide the 2900 block of Jonah Drive.
"It was like: boom! Boom!" neighbor Keshia Ross recalled hearing from a neighboring apartment.
"Last night me and my brother heard about five gunshots," echoed neighbor Ruben Acosta. "There were two little kids that came out in shock."
It was the second time in less than a week that Tarrant County authorities have responded to a domestic incident that ended in a double murder-suicide.
"It does appear to be domestic related," officer Buddy Calzada said at the scene. "We can tell you there's no immediate threat or danger to the public."
Last Wednesday, Arlington police said a man killed his ex-girlfriend and her son before killing himself.
"Every homicide is preventable and every homicide is a tragedy," said Kathryn Jacob, president and CEO of SafeHaven of Tarrant County, the county's largest shelter and resource provider for domestic violence victims.
Jacob said we are coming off what appears to have been Tarrant County's deadliest year in terms of intimate partner homicides. They're investigating 21 of those cases from 2020, up from the official total of eight the year before. This year, there have been five suspected intimate partner homicide cases, including the most recent cases from Fort Worth and Arlington.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: the idea that someone, anyone, spends the last moments of their life staring down the barrel of a gun is awful," Jacob said.
She reminds anyone who's in danger, or who knows someone who is, to reach to SafeHaven and its 24-hour hotline. It's there you can start to learn about all the resources and help available to you.
SafeHaven 24-hour hotline: 1-877-701-7233
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else.