Doors locked at 3 Mesquite schools after 2 men shot at nearby city park

The shooting did not take place at a school or involve any current students, police say

The outside doors were locked at three schools in Mesquite Friday afternoon after a shooting at a nearby city park.

Mesquite police confirmed to NBC 5 that two men were shot at City Lake Park just before 2 p.m. The men were not identified, but police confirmed the men were not juveniles or students at any of the three nearby schools. Late Friday afternoon, police said the two men were ages 17 and 18 and were former students of Mesquite High School.

The men's conditions are not known and no further details have been shared about what may have led to the shooting. Police have also not said whether they believe the men shot each other or if they were shot by someone else.

Terry Rippa lives just yards away from where the scene unfolded. He had a clear view from his window just after shooting.

“There were four or five of them on the curb right in front of my house, and kids on the other side of the street got on the sidewalk and they shot four or five times, and the kid went down, and the other kids ran off to the right towards the high school over here,” he said.

A nearby neighbor, Michael Diggs said he heard the shots the shots as well.

“I came out here and I kind of saw all the kids scattering and about two or three were on the cell phones, one was hysterical, and one was on the ground, and one was lie slumped over him,” said Diggs.

Both Diggs and Rippa, who has lived in the same house for 23 years, said they often see young people hanging out at the park but rarely do those hangouts escalate to incidents like this one.

Police have not said whether the people seen scattering following the gunfire were current students.

Three schools near the park, including Mesquite High School, Agnew Middle School and Black Elementary School, were placed under a Secure status while police investigated the shooting.

Mesquite ISD uses the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), which is based on five response actions: Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter, and Hold. On Friday, the campuses were placed in a Secure mode, and the students were all brought inside, and the outside doors were locked.

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