Campus Alert Archive
A&M-Commerce

A Targeted Killing Inside a Freshman Dorm: "Active Criminal Investigation" at Pride Rock

TXshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

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 — were shot and killed inside a room at the Pride Rock residence hall. 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; classes were canceled the remainder of that day and the following two days.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
2
Injured
1
Institution
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Public R2 · TX
~12,000 studentsLion Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimCBS19 quoting Texas A&M-Commerce Lion Alert verbatim253 chars
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.
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
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from KSAT and Washington Post reporting that the shelter-in-place was lifted just under two hours after the alert and that classes were canceled for the rest of the day159 chars
The shelter in place order has been lifted. The scene is secure. All classes are cancelled for the remainder of the day and evening at the A&M-Commerce campus.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Multiple outlets reported the shelter-in-place was lifted around 1:30 PM CST — approximately three hours after the 10:17 AM 911 call
Class cancellation language is paraphrased from official university statements quoted by KSAT, KENS5, and the Washington Post
No verbatim quote of the second Lion Alert message appears in publicly archived reporting; this reconstruction preserves the substantive elements (lift of order, scene secure, classes canceled)
Context

Background

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. At approximately 10:17 a.m. CST, a student living in Pride Rock — 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,' and the shelter-in-place was lifted within two hours. 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; 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. The case is one of the deadliest on-campus residence-hall shootings in Texas history outside of the 1966 UT Tower attack.
Analysis

Key Findings

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 under-two-hour 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
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, unrelated murder in Denton.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Classes canceled, shelter in place issued at Texas A&M-Commerce as university police work 'active criminal investigation' (CBS19)
    cbs19.tv
  2. News
    Texas A&M-Commerce shooting: Two dead, investigation ongoing (Texas Tribune)
    texastribune.org
  3. News
    Garland sisters identified as victims in Texas A&M-Commerce shooting (NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)
    nbcdfw.com
  4. News
    2 women killed, child hurt in shooting at Texas A&M-Commerce dormitory (KSAT)
    ksat.com
  5. News
    Sisters dead in 'targeted, isolated' shooting at Texas A&M-Commerce dorm (ABC News)
    abcnews.go.com
  6. News
    Texas A&M-Commerce shooting suspect charged with additional murder in Denton (KERA News)
    keranews.org
Tags
shootingresidence-halltargeted-violencedomestic-violencetexaspride-rockfataltwo-fatalitiesex-partner-violence2020
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion