In the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, February 1, 2026, a call reporting the sound of gunshots broke the quiet in Killeen, Texas. Officers were dispatched at approximately 3:59 a.m. to the parking lot of Club Blu Print on East Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Upon their arrival, they discovered a man, later identified as 35-year-old James Marquis Simmons, suffering from a severe gunshot wound.
The scene was quickly secured as emergency medical personnel prepared for a life-saving flight.
Simmons was in critical condition and immediately airlifted to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center. Despite the urgent medical intervention, his injuries proved to be fatal. A little over an hour after he was found, at 5:01 a.m., James Marquis Simmons was pronounced dead by Gregory Johnson, leaving a community to grapple with the sudden and violent loss. The preliminary investigation pieced together a timeline from the initial 9-1-1 call, where the caller heard the shots and then found Simmons in the parking lot.
The Killeen Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Unit is actively investigating the case as a murder. As of now, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified. Investigators learned that an unknown vehicle was seen leaving the nightclub's parking lot around the time of the shooting. Authorities are urging the public for assistance, asking anyone with information regarding the incident to come forward and contact the Bell County Crime Stoppers. The investigation remains ongoing as detectives work to uncover the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting.
