Suspect arrested after Horace Middle School parking lot shooting, lockdown lifted

Police say a parking-lot shooting at Heritage Middle School in Horace triggered a morning lockdown across all three public schools in town before officers arrested a Fargo man and lifted restrictions about two hours later.

Dispatch received the call at about 9:46 a.m. Monday, April 13, after reports of shots fired at the school. An adult man suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the hand. No children, faculty or staff were injured, and a West Fargo Public Schools school resource officer already on-site helped secure the campus while officers worked to make sure there was no active threat.

Authorities identified the suspect as Garmonyou Dougar Wiles, 40, of Fargo, and said he was arrested on felony reckless endangerment, felony aggravated assault and felony terrorizing charges. Additional charges were possible. Police said Wiles fled before law enforcement arrived, and his vehicle was later found near 42nd Street and 18th Avenue South in Fargo.

Investigators said the victim and suspect knew each other and were both working for a construction company on the middle school expansion. That detail put the shooting in the middle of an active work site on school grounds, but police said it did not appear to be a threat directed at students. Even so, Heritage Middle School, Horace High School and Horace Elementary were all placed on lockdown as a precaution.

School officials emailed families during the incident and told them students were safe inside the buildings. Parents rushed to the school during the lockdown as officers secured the scene and sorted out the threat level. The lockdown was lifted around noon, about two hours after it began, and normal operations resumed.

For Horace schools, the episode underscored how quickly a workplace dispute can spill into a campus safety response when a weapon is involved. A construction zone beside a middle school expansion is now part of a broader conversation about access control, response time and how fast the district can move to lock down buildings, communicate with families and restore order. Comfort dogs were made available to students later in the week as the district dealt with the disruption.