by Don Mooney
The shooting happened on Circle Park Boulevard happened when the 82-year-old was shot through her back door around 9 p.m. Thursday.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jonathan Howard, 35, is under arrest and is in Tarrant County jail and charged with the shooting of North Ft. Worth’s councilman’s 82-year-old mother Thursday night. The shooting happened on Circle Park Boulevard happened where the 82-year-old was shot through her back door around 9 p.m.
Fort Worth city councilman Carlos Flores confirmed the woman shot is his mother, Graciela Flores, who lives next door to him. Councilman Flores says he’s the one who called 911 and cared for his mother until first responders arrived. He declined to be interviewed on camera.
“Right now, I am concerned about my mom,” said Emma Patino, whose mother lives in the neighborhood. Patino says she is always concerned about her mother’s safety, and now she’s even more on edge. “It makes me think of my mom because they are only 3 years apart,” she said. “I feel like mom needs more protection.”
“It is scary. Very scary. And when my siblings find out about this, they will be scared too,” Patino continued.
Reports are unclear. It appears Graciela Flores was home when an unknown male approached her back door. Flores yelled, thinking it was a relative. During the preliminary investigation Flores says, “I heard gunfire and realized I had been shot in the stomach, then the shooter took off.”
Councilman Flores’ gave a statement Friday saying, “a stray bullet was fired from the backyard of a nearby property,” but offered no other details about it. Police never said anything about a stray bullet, and when asked about it, just stated the investigation is ongoing.
“I did not know his name, but I have seen him before. It is just shocking knowing it was him,” said Rosenda Mercado, who lives nearby.
Early Friday morning Fort Worth detectives identified the alleged shooter as 35-year-old Jonathan Howard. Howard’s listed address on the police report matches the same address. Around 4:30 Friday morning Howard was taken into custody and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
Howard was not charged with a crime like aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, only to say additional charges could be coming. Howard does have a criminal history, including evading arrest, assault and drug charges.
“It’s just weird. Like, why Carlos’ mother?” Mercado asked. “He never seemed like he would do something like that you know,” Mercado said.