Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Tex. — A 3-year-old girl who was covered in blood when her father dropped her off with a relative after fatally shooting his estranged wife and her two children inside their Fort Worth home described the shootings, police said.
In a brief interview with Child Protective Services, the child indicated that she had likely witnessed her mother and siblings get shot. Her father, Arthur Jackson, 32, later shot himself after a nearly seven-hour standoff with police on Friday.
“From what I understand, she said, ‘Daddy shot Mommy. Daddy shot Brother and Sister,’ or something to that effect,” Fort Worth homicide Detective Michel Carroll told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for its editions today. “Then she went, ‘Bang, bang, bang.’ “
Because the 3-year-old was covered with blood but was uninjured, police are trying to determine whether her mother was holding her when she was shot, Fort Worth homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said.
Police said Jackson was smiling when he dropped off Ariana with a relative Friday afternoon.
“He was smiling when he said, ‘I killed Lisa. I shot her in the head,’ ” Carroll said.
Fort Worth police believe Jackson may have killed Lisa Ford Jackson and her 7-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter from previous relationships early Friday.
According to Carroll, Lisa Jackson’s sister said the woman had talked to a friend on the phone at about 1 a.m. Friday but didn’t show up for a 6 a.m. hair appointment.
Just after noon on Friday, Arthur Jackson took Ariana, the couple’s only child, to a church in Arlington where a cousin worked. He told his cousin what he had done, then asked that she make sure that the girl was given to his mother in Memphis, Thornton said.
Speaking on the phone with an Arlington officer after leaving the church, Jackson repeated what he had done and directed the officer to the Fort Worth address where the bodies could be found, Thornton said.
Fort Worth police arrived at the house about 1 p.m. and found Lisa Jackson dead on her bed. On the floor nearby were Jaelyn Ford and her half-brother, Tyson Adams.
All three had been shot in the head.
Police, who had obtained a list of his relatives, found the armed man parked in an Arlington driveway after he dropped off the 3-year-old. At one point during the standoff with Arlington police, Jackson drove around an armored personnel carrier and out of the neighborhood. He then drove into Lake Arlington and shot himself in the head.
Arlington police say they will review how the suspect escaped containment.
Court records show that Jackson had no criminal history in Tarrant County. Carroll said all that investigators uncovered about him were a few criminal mischief cases out of Tennessee.