The 18-year-old, accepted to the University of Houston, remains in intensive care after the March 19 gunfire.
RICHARDSON, Texas — The family of an 18-year-old Richardson High School student says his future was upended after gunfire erupted during a fight outside a Waffle House, leaving the senior with catastrophic injuries as police continue searching for the shooter.
Seth Jackson was wounded when officers responded about 12:40 a.m. March 19 to reports of a shooting at 120 W. Spring Valley Road, according to Richardson police. His father says the teenager is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down and remains in the ICU with multiple serious injuries. The case matters beyond one violent night because it has become a story about interrupted plans: a student-athlete nearing graduation, a college acceptance already in hand and a family suddenly shifting from senior-year milestones to hospital decisions, accessibility renovations and unanswered questions about who pulled the trigger.
Authorities said witnesses called 911 after seeing a large fight unfold in the Waffle House parking lot, followed by bursts of gunfire. Officers found one gunshot victim at the scene and took him to a hospital in stable condition. He was later identified as Jackson. James Jackson, the victim’s father, said his son moved toward the disturbance after seeing one of his friends being attacked. “Nobody calls in the middle of the night with good news,” James Jackson said as he described the call that alerted the family. He said his son reacted on instinct when he saw the confrontation, but did not make it close to the people fighting before he was shot. Police have not publicly said whether Seth was involved in the fight itself or merely approaching it when the shooting happened.
The father’s account adds detail to a case that investigators have otherwise described only in broad terms. James Jackson said his son suffered a ruptured lung, fractured ribs and a shattered spinal cord. He said the injuries have permanently changed what Seth’s recovery will look like. Police, meanwhile, have not identified the shooter, said what set off the fight or explained whether there was one gunman or more than one person armed. They also have not released details about possible suspects, any getaway vehicle or whether officers recovered a weapon. Those unknowns have left the family and the community with an investigation still defined more by what is missing than by what is settled.
Before the shooting, Seth Jackson’s life appeared to be moving in a familiar spring rhythm for a high school senior. His father said he played on the Richardson High School basketball team, held two jobs and had been accepted to the University of Houston. He already had an apartment rented for the fall, his father said, a sign that the move from high school to college had begun to feel real. Now the family is confronting a different set of deadlines. James Jackson said he is trying to make the family home ADA compliant, including changes to doors and a bathroom remodel. Those details ground the story in the practical aftermath of violence: not only emergency care, but the long and expensive redesign of daily life after a spinal injury.
Police have asked for the public’s help, but as of Wednesday had not announced an arrest. That leaves the case at a point where witness statements, videos and physical evidence are likely to carry unusual weight, even though investigators have not publicly described what evidence they have gathered. The family has also turned to public support as medical and recovery needs mount. A fundraiser has been created to help pay for Jackson’s recovery. At the same time, the criminal side of the case remains open-ended. No charges had been announced in the public reporting available Wednesday, and no hearing date or briefing tied to a suspect had been made public.
The emotional center of the story has come from the father’s plain description of how fast one moment can recast a family’s future. James Jackson said he hopes the shooter is caught, but his immediate attention remains on Seth’s survival and adjustment. He has spoken of the difference between the plans they were making days earlier and the realities now in front of them. The details are stark and ordinary at the same time: a son heading toward college, a family preparing a house for wheelchair access, a hospital room replacing the usual senior-year conversation about graduation and move-in dates. That contrast is what has made the case resonate as police continue to work without publicly naming the person responsible.
By Wednesday night, Seth Jackson remained hospitalized and the shooter had not been publicly identified. The next turning point will be any police announcement naming a suspect, explaining what caused the fight or outlining whether arrests are expected in the coming days.
Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.