Police said an argument at a large gathering escalated into a fight between two men before gunfire struck four people.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Two men were killed and two others were wounded early Sunday after an altercation at a large backyard gathering in Fort Worth escalated into an exchange of gunfire, police said.
Officers responded at about 3:32 a.m. Sept. 20 to the 4300 block of Martin Street after receiving a report of a shooting. Investigators said a large group had gathered in the backyard of a residence when a dispute began between a man and a woman who knew each other. The confrontation then drew in another man and eventually led to gunfire.
Fort Worth police said the second man intervened in the original altercation. The two men then began fighting, and investigators said firearms were produced during that confrontation. Police said both men fired and four adult men were struck.
Two of the wounded men were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said one of those killed was the man who had intervened in the earlier dispute. Two other men were taken to local hospitals with gunshot wounds. One of the hospitalized men was described by investigators as the other person involved in the exchange of gunfire.
Police initially described the injuries to the two hospitalized men as serious. Their conditions had not been publicly updated in the reports available Sunday. Authorities also had not explained what led to the original dispute between the man and woman.
Officer Brad Perez of the Fort Worth Police Department said investigators were still working to determine the full sequence of events. Police interviewed people who had been at the gathering while crime scene personnel examined the property and surrounding area. A pickup truck was also towed from the scene as part of the investigation.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office later identified one of the men who died as 24-year-old Jose Alejandro Valladolid. The identity of the second man killed had not been publicly released in the latest reports reviewed Monday.
The preliminary police account leaves several questions unresolved, including what caused the first argument, the precise roles of the four men who were struck and whether additional evidence will change investigators’ understanding of how the shooting unfolded. Authorities have cautioned that details could change as detectives interview witnesses and review evidence.
FOX 4 reported Sunday that no arrests had been made at the time of its report. Fort Worth police continued to investigate the shooting and asked people with information to contact detectives. No later announcement of charges or arrests was found in the verified sources reviewed Monday.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.