Senior kidnapped, robbed at gunpoint
Suspects abduct student from Stonegate

By Jaime Walker
Senior News Editor

Senior Jason Cordova said he feels unbelievably fortunate to be alive after reportedly being kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint midnight Tuesday.

Cordova, an advertising/public relations major, said he was about to deliver some papers to a friend at the Stonegate Villa Apartment Complex on Oakhill Circle. He said two men approached him, held a gun to his head and told him to get back in his car.

“One of them sort of frisked me, and then the other one told me to get in my car and drive to an ATM,” Cordova said. “They couldn’t find an ATM close by that was to their liking so we drove downtown. The whole time they were making threats and telling me if they got caught or things didn’t work out, they would kill me.”

Cordova said the suspects wanted to use a drive-up ATM that was well hidden and not well lit.

Initially, a man in another car followed Cordova from the apartment complex, so the group would have a getaway vehicle, but the third suspect got lost, he said.

“I withdrew $50 from my checking account, but that wasn’t enough for them,” Cordova said. “They were really angry, so they made me drive around the block and then wanted me to withdraw money from my savings account, but I couldn’t access it.”

The suspects made Cordova drive around the Rosedale Street and Vickery Boulevard area while they decided how they would escape or what they would do next. According to the police report, the suspects stopped at a convenience store on Rosedale Street and Ayers Avenue and one of the suspects went in to buy cigarettes. The other suspect stayed in the car and told Cordova to continue circling the area.

At about 3 a.m., the suspects told Cordova to exit his car and walk down the street without turning around. Cordova said the suspects decided to make him get back in the car and put his head down and count to 50.

“They were talking about whether or not they wanted to kill (me) and said they should have done it like they had before,” he said. “At first I was really scared, but I got this amazing sense of calm. I realized at that point it was all out of my hands. If it was my time to go, it was my time to go. The ultimate decision was up to them.”

The two men loaded Cordova’s wallet, palm pilot, laptop computer and other personal belongings into his backpack and ran.

“I can’t help but believe that I am alive because of some kind of divine intervention,” Cordova said. “Now, I have to piece back together the things that I lost, but I escaped with my life and my car. I am so lucky and forever grateful.”

Cordova said the incident has caused him to re-evaluate his priorities and will make him more aware of his surroundings.

“What I learned last night is that it’s your relationships with other people that really matter,” he said. “I remember wondering if I had made the most of my life so far.

“And, if anything, I realized this kind of thing can happen here. It can happen to us. Violence can happen to anyone.”

Frances Awala, secretary to the criminal investigations division of the Fort Worth Police Department, said no investigating officer will be assigned to the case until today.

Jaime Walker
j.l.walker@student.tcu.edu