Two people were shot yesterday in the 1900 block of N. Bell Avenue near Woodland Street in Denton, prompting police to shut down the roadway north of University Drive as officers investigated. Authorities said there was no active threat to the public, though they had not immediately disclosed the victims' medical conditions.
According to WFAA, the Denton Police Department confirmed the two injuries and asked the public to avoid the area while the road closure remained in effect. The City of Denton Fire Department first alerted residents to the shooting and the closure north of University Drive, saying it would update the public as more information became available.
The stretch of N. Bell Avenue where the shooting happened sits just south of Texas Woman's University facilities, including Pioneer Hall at 1600 N. Bell Avenue, per Texas Woman's University directory records. The corridor serves as a key route for student commuters and university staff, and citywide, N. Bell Avenue carries roughly 19,500 daily vehicle trips as a primary north-south thoroughfare, according to City of Denton municipal council records.
A Corridor With a Recent History of Gun Violence
Sunday's shooting is not the first time gunfire has struck this stretch of Denton. In May, officers investigated a targeted shooting in the 2400 block of N. Bell Avenue — less than a mile north of the August scene — where two women were shot in an apartment parking lot before suspect Gerald Riggins was arrested in Oklahoma City on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, per the same city account. Hoodline reported on that shooting at the time, noting that medics transported a female victim with non-life-threatening injuries and that police searched the area for an armed suspect known to the victim.
Just weeks later, Denton police and federal marshals set up a search perimeter near N. Bell Avenue and E. Windsor Drive before arresting a home-invasion suspect nearby, city officials said. The suspect had allegedly committed a knife-point home invasion before fleeing into the neighborhood.
Citywide Violent Crime Context
Denton recorded 1,272 violent crime incidents in 2025, making up roughly a third of the city's 3,864 total recorded threat incidents that year, according to crime trend data from Base Operations. Property crime still accounted for the majority of incidents citywide, at 56.5%, per the same data.
Denton police have also used Texas Department of Transportation grant funding to deploy targeted traffic enforcement and increased patrols on high-traffic thoroughfares like N. Bell Avenue, according to a city public safety release. Officials have said those programs are meant to reduce collisions and improve safety on heavily traveled corridors.
What Remains Unknown
As of Sunday, police had not identified a suspect or announced any arrests connected to the shooting. The victims' current medical conditions, the motive behind the shooting, and whether the incident is linked to any nearby residential complexes or university-affiliated housing all remain unclear. Under Texas Penal Code Section 22.02, assault involving a firearm is classified as a second-degree felony carrying two to 20 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, according to legal analysis from Varghese Summersett — with charges elevating to a first-degree felony if committed against protected public servants or in domestic violence situations.
