A Texas woman was shot dead with seven of her friends at a football watch party Sunday, and her estranged husband is allegedly the shooter. Meredith Lane Hight, 27, was killed after her ex- husband crashed her viewing party and allegedly opened fire on her and her guests at her home in Plano, Texas.
Meredith filed for divorce with her husband back on July 17, 2017. But her husband had already been out of the house since March. He wrote a few posts since then, where he berated his wife. In one post, he shared a meme of a guy helping a choking ex-wife by suplexing her like a professional wrestling.
During the day of the shooting, Meredith held an NFL viewing party. In the afternoon, the ex-wife and her friends watched her favorite football team, the Atlanta Falcons (Lane is originally from Atlanta.). The party continued into the night, as they watched a local Dallas Cowboys game, her mother told the Dallas Morning News.
What Happened?
The shooting occurred at about 8 P.M. Shortly before that, witnesses say that Spencer entered the home and an argument ensued. He allegedly shot nine people, killing eight. According to police, one victim was able to survive the shooting spree. A responding Plano police officer heard the gunshot and entered the residence, where he shot and killed the gunman who was later identified as Spencer Hight.
According to KXAS-TV, the shooting went down on the 1700 block of West Spring Creek Parkway, near Custer Road.
“This is still very fresh and a very active investigation,” Plano Police Chief Gregory Rushin said Monday afternoon at a press conference. “We’re still out there at the scene processing the scene, we have witnesses still to interview. I would ask everyone to keep the family members and the loved ones of the shooting victims in your thoughts and prayers. This is a very difficult time for them and for our first responders and for our entire community.”
Meredith was shot and killed at the first party she hosted since separating from her husband. Sunday night football between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys quickly turned to carnage.
“She was a cook, and a quite fine one, and she loved hosting friends and families,” Debbie Lane told WFAA-TV. “This was her first opportunity to do it after the divorce and he didn’t take it well.”
Police Chief Greg Rushin told reporters, “They were having a cookout that afternoon and they were getting prepared to watch the Cowboys football game. There was a party at the residence. Any time you have a homicide it’s disturbing, and certainly when you have this many, we’ve never seen anything like this in our city before. Many times you do see family violence situations that occur in many cities across the country, and those can become very volatile very quickly.”
Crystal Sugg, a witness of the shooting, claims to have seen a man and woman arguing at about 7:45 P.M.
“A man was arguing with a woman. They were standing outside and they were arguing,” Sugg said. “And as they were arguing you could kind of hear little pieces of it, but you really couldn’t. And as they were arguing, the woman was trying to go back in. And as she was going back in the house, you seen the man pull out his gun and just start releasing. So as he released I ran back in, because I didn’t want to get hit by nothing. But he just started letting them go.”
Witnesses claim that they heard 30 to 40 gunshot going off within Meredith’s house.
Rest in peace, Meredith Lane Hight. She was once a model, a restaurant manager and ran an online business. She studied applied mathematics at the University of Texas. She sold products for the company It Works online, and once worked as a restaurant manager for Rising Crane’s.
She was a big fan of the band 311 and loved going to shows.
“She was our only child,” her father, Gene Lane, told The Washington Post. “All we know is she is gone.”
Amanda Farr wrote on Facebook, “I am completely heartbroken. The world lost the most beautiful, fierce, wicked smart, talented, witty, loving soul. Meredith Hight, my oldest friend, you will be more than missed. You shaped my childhood, and I know your passing will forever shape my life. I love you, girl. ❤️”
Police are still investigating the motive behind Sunday’s shooting.
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