Man suspected of shooting 3 in Fort Worth suburb; may be holding child hostage

Wednesday, October 4th 2006, 9:33 pm

By: News On 6

FOREST HILL, Texas (AP) -- Authorities were trying to negotiate Wednesday evening with a man suspected of shooting and wounding at least three people in an apparent domestic dispute, then holing himself up in a home, possibly with a child hostage, officials and residents said.

Broadcast footage showed police escorting several children out the back of a home in this Fort Worth suburb and across open fields. Several adults were taken to ambulances by the same route.

Tanya Gilstrap was in stable condition at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, a spokesman said. The extent of her injuries wasn't immediately available, nor were the conditions of the other two victims.

Police were evacuating homes in the neighborhood, said Terry Grisham, a spokesman for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.

Brenda Jackson told The Dallas Morning News that the situation started with an argument between her sister and her sister's estranged boyfriend.

"He and my sister were in an argument, and he tied her to the bed," said Jackson, who lives next door. "I confronted him, and he said, 'If y'all call police, it's gonna be a war."'

Then, Jackson said, "he was standing next door to my yard, and everybody who was outside was shot."

Authorities were trying to communicate with the man and determine whether he was holding a child hostage.

"We'd like to know if the child is OK," Grisham said. "If the child is OK we'll take it as slow as we have to so long as we have no evidence that anyone inside is hurt."