Son accused of gunning down North Crowley High JROTC teacher in Fort Worth, police say
When he was growing up, Xavier Bass believed his father should not have left him with his mother to struggle, he told a person close to him.
Late last week, Bass, who is 27, drove from his home in Georgia to Texas and shot to death the man he thought should have made his life better, police allege. Landscapers planting flowers in Gene Bass’ south Fort Worth front yard witnessed his killing.
Xavier Bass parked his Ford Mustang and walked toward Gene Bass, according to the police account of the homicide that is described an affidavit supporting his arrest warrant for murder.
Xavier Bass twice tossed a small black handgun into the air and caught it.
Gene Bass, who was 54 and worked as a JROTC teacher in the Crowley Independent School District, approached his son.
“Boy stop playing with that gun before you shoot someone,” Gene Bass said, according to a landscaper whose recounting of the homicide in the 4400 block of Chesapeake Bay Drive is included in the affidavit.
Surveillance cameras mounted on the exterior of Gene Bass’ house recorded video of his attempt to evade death on Friday about 2:15 p.m., Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Jeremy Balders wrote in the affidavit.
Gene Bass began to run away and fell. Dust flew up from the ground around him as he was being shot at.
As Gene Bass crawled under the landscapers’ trailer, Xavier Bass pursued his father while pointing the pistol at him, Detective Balders wrote in the affidavit. Xavier Bass went around the trailer and his father crawled out, stood up and ran across the yard. The suspect followed.
Gene Bass was shot multiple times, including at least once in the head.
Bass taught students in the JROTC program at North Crowley High School.
In a message to families, Crowley ISD officials wrote that Bass, a master sergeant, “was a treasured member of our NCHS JROTC family.”
“This is an incredibly sad time for all of us, especially those who knew MSG Bass as an instructor and friend,” the school district’s letter read. “He was an outstanding educator and colleague, and he touched the lives of countless students and staff.”
Xavier Bass drove his Mustang from the house after the shooting, Balders wrote in the affidavit. He was arrested at a residence in Valdosta, Georgia.
A person whose name police redacted from the affidavit told Balders that on the day before the killing, Xavier Bass told the person he was going to drive to see his mother, sell his Mustang and check himself into a mental hospital.
