{
  "id": "2020-02-03-texas-am-commerce-pride-rock-shooting",
  "slug": "texas-am-commerce-pride-rock-shooting-2020-02-03",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Texas A&M University-Commerce",
    "shortName": "A&M-Commerce",
    "state": "TX",
    "type": "public-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "Lion Alert",
    "enrollment": 12000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2020-02-03",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Two sisters fatally shot in a residence hall; suspect arrested the next day",
    "headlinePublic": "Two sisters fatally shot in a residence hall; suspect arrested the next day",
    "summary": "On Monday, February 3, 2020, two sisters ([19-year-old Texas A&M-Commerce freshman Deja Matts and her 20-year-old sister Abbaney Matts](https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/garland-sisters-identified-as-victims-in-texas-am-commerce-shooting/2304721/)) were shot and killed inside a room at the [Pride Rock residence hall](https://www.texastribune.org/2020/02/04/seo-texas-m-commerce-shooting-two-dead-investigation-ongoing/). Abbaney's 2-year-old son was also shot but survived. A student at the dorm called police at approximately 10:17 a.m. CST, and within minutes the university issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place via its Lion Alert system, describing 'an active criminal investigation' rather than an active shooter. The order was [lifted around 1:30 PM CST](https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/shelter-in-place-issued-for-texas-am-commerce-classes-canceled-for-the-day/287-0c4e2335-a24b-4635-8a50-0d6a19215a58); classes were canceled the remainder of that day and the following two days.",
    "outcome": "Suspect Jacques Dshawn Smith, 21, the ex-boyfriend of Abbaney Matts, was arrested the next day and charged with capital murder. Smith was not a student. The 2-year-old toddler was treated and released to family. Police characterized the shooting as 'targeted and isolated' rather than a campus-wide threat. The shelter-in-place was lifted around 1:30 PM CST; classes were canceled for the remainder of the week. Smith was later charged with an additional murder in a December 2019 Denton shooting, and in May 2023 he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison plus 35 years.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 2,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Late morning, Monday, February 3, 2020, shortly after the 10:17 a.m. CST 911 call",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "A&M-Commerce UPD is actively investigating three gunshot victims in Pride Rock Residence Hall on the A&M-Commerce campus. Students, faculty and staff are instructed to take shelter and stay in place until further notice. This is a precautionary measure.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/classes-canceled-shelter-in-place-issued-at-texas-am-commerce-as-university-police-work-active-criminal-investigation/501-16d235ad-4542-4ba2-867e-c2393bfd8593",
      "sourceDescription": "CBS19 quoting Texas A&M-Commerce Lion Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "Notable for naming the specific building (Pride Rock Residence Hall) and the casualty count ('three gunshot victims') in the initial message, a level of specificity many universities avoid in first alerts",
        "Framed as an 'active criminal investigation' rather than 'active shooter', language that reflected dispatch's early read that this was a targeted incident with no continuing campus-wide threat",
        "The word 'precautionary' appears in the same SMS as a confirmed casualty count, an unusual juxtaposition that hints at how quickly campus police had assessed the scene"
      ],
      "characterCount": 253
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:30 PM CST on Monday, February 3, 2020, about three hours after the 10:17 AM 911 call",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2020/02/03/two-dead-at-texas-am-commerce-dorm-students-told-to-shelter-in-place/",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from KSAT and Washington Post reporting that the shelter-in-place was lifted around 1:30 PM CST, about three hours after the 10:17 AM CST 911 call, and that classes were canceled for the rest of the day",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of Monday, February 3, 2020, [Texas A&M University-Commerce became the site of a targeted double homicide inside a freshman residence hall](https://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-hurt-shooting-texas-university-commerce-residence-hall/story?id=68727234). At approximately 10:17 a.m. CST, a student living in [Pride Rock](https://www.bokapowell.com/projects/texas-a-m-commerce-pride-rock-hall) (a three-story suite-style residence hall that opened in 2018) called university police to report gunshots. Officers arrived to find sisters Deja Matts (19), a public-health freshman from Garland, and Abbaney Matts (20) dead in a dorm room; Abbaney's 2-year-old son was also shot but survived. The university's Lion Alert system issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place naming the building and the casualty count, an unusually specific first message. [Police later characterized the killing as 'targeted and isolated,'](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/us/texas-am-university-commerce-fatal-shooting/index.html) and the shelter-in-place was lifted around 1:30 PM CST, about three hours after the 10:17 a.m. CST 911 call. The suspect, 21-year-old Jacques Dshawn Smith (believed to be Abbaney's ex-boyfriend, and not a student at the university) was [arrested the following day and charged with capital murder](https://www.keranews.org/news/2020-02-05/texas-a-m-commerce-shooting-suspect-charged-with-additional-murder-in-denton); he was later charged with a second, unrelated murder in Denton. Classes were canceled for the remainder of the day and the next two days.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Texas A&M-Commerce's first alert named the specific building and the casualty count within minutes, a level of specificity rare in initial campus shelter-in-place messages, made possible because campus police were already on-scene confirming a contained crime scene",
    "Framing the incident as an 'active criminal investigation' rather than an 'active shooter' reflected an early correct assessment that this was a targeted homicide with no continuing threat to other students, a distinction that influenced both the calm tone of the alert and the roughly three-hour, same-afternoon resolution",
    "The shooting prompted no statewide policy changes despite occurring at a residence hall, reflecting how 'targeted' framings (even for double homicides on campus) typically do not generate the regulatory response that 'active shooter' incidents do"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Classes canceled, shelter in place issued at Texas A&M-Commerce as university police work 'active criminal investigation' (CBS19)",
      "url": "https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/classes-canceled-shelter-in-place-issued-at-texas-am-commerce-as-university-police-work-active-criminal-investigation/501-16d235ad-4542-4ba2-867e-c2393bfd8593",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Texas A&M-Commerce shooting: Two dead, investigation ongoing (Texas Tribune)",
      "url": "https://www.texastribune.org/2020/02/04/seo-texas-m-commerce-shooting-two-dead-investigation-ongoing/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Garland sisters identified as victims in Texas A&M-Commerce shooting (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/garland-sisters-identified-as-victims-in-texas-am-commerce-shooting/2304721/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "2 women killed, child hurt in shooting at Texas A&M-Commerce dormitory (KSAT)",
      "url": "https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/2020/02/03/two-dead-at-texas-am-commerce-dorm-students-told-to-shelter-in-place/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Sisters dead in 'targeted, isolated' shooting at Texas A&M-Commerce dorm (ABC News)",
      "url": "https://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-hurt-shooting-texas-university-commerce-residence-hall/story?id=68727234",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Texas A&M-Commerce shooting suspect charged with additional murder in Denton (KERA News)",
      "url": "https://www.keranews.org/news/2020-02-05/texas-a-m-commerce-shooting-suspect-charged-with-additional-murder-in-denton",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "residence-hall",
    "targeted-violence",
    "domestic-violence",
    "texas",
    "pride-rock",
    "fatal",
    "two-fatalities",
    "ex-partner-violence",
    "2020"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion",
  "communityResponse": {
    "sentiment": "positive",
    "summary": "A student told [Houston Public Media](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2020/02/04/359426/victims-identified-in-texas-am-commerce-campus-shooting/) that the campus took the Lion Alert shelter-in-place emails seriously from the very first message, crediting heightened vigilance after a recent off-campus shooting in nearby Greenville.",
    "quotes": [
      {
        "text": "I think people were taking it very serious from the very first email because... because of the Greenville incident.",
        "speaker": "Jack Simonek, Texas A&M-Commerce student",
        "source": "Houston Public Media",
        "sourceUrl": "https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2020/02/04/359426/victims-identified-in-texas-am-commerce-campus-shooting/",
        "sourceType": "local-media",
        "isVerbatimConfirmed": false
      }
    ],
    "confidence": "low"
  }
}