Young teen fatally shot 16-year-old who stopped him from bullying a smaller kid, Texas police say

Memorial for Samuel Reynolds, 16 — (Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/NBC News via The Washington Post)

An unidentified teenager in Arlington, Texas, pulled out a handgun Thursday and shot dead Samuel Reynolds, 16, who had stopped the shooter from bullying a smaller boy a few days earlier, police say. "After he broke up the fight, he started having trouble with the suspect," Arlington Police Lt. Christopher Cook said in a news conference Friday. The boy with the gun was between 13 and 15 years old and lived in the same apartment complex as Reynolds, NBC News reports.

Police say they have video of the entire incident from security cameras in the apartment complex. "He pulls out a handgun from the rear part of his pants he was wearing, points it at the victim and fires one round," Cook said. The gunman is being charged with murder.

"This senseless act of gun violence has no place in society and our hometown community," said Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson. "We will direct our attention to how a young teen suspect accessed a firearm used in the offense."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.