Mesquite Officer Dies After Shooting Outside Grocery Store
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A Mesquite police officer responding to a disturbance call has died after he was shot in a grocery store parking lot Friday afternoon.
Police said it happened as the officer was working a call at an Albertsons on South Belt Line Road near Cartwright Road around 1:40 p.m.
A spokesperson from Albertsons said the store was briefly closed after shooting, but has since reopened. They said that Albertsons thoughts were with "those involved and with their families" and confirmed they are cooperating with law enforcement's ongoing investigation.
"This was a senseless act of violence that ripped a loving husband and father from his family," a clearly emotional Mesquite Police Chief David Gill said in announcing the officer's death. "He was a 21-year-veteran of the Mesquite Police Department. He was a good man, a good friend, a good officer. Please keep his family and our family in your prayers."
The fallen officer is only the second member of the force to die while on duty in the Mesquite Police Department's history. The first was 47 years ago.
Officials had confirmed earlier the officer and the suspect were both taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Authorities believe that the suspect shot himself after shooting the officer in what was presumed to be a suicide attempt.
Credit: Chopper 11/CBSDFWCBS 11's
Police departments and police chiefs from across North Texas offered their condolences to the Mesquite police department and the officer's family.
Credit: Chopper 11/CBSDFW
Video from Chopper 11 showed a very active scene outside the Mesquite grocery store Friday afternoon.
CBS 11's Nick Starling was also on the scene and said officers had a large area of the parking lot blocked off.
In the minutes after the shooting, Mesquite and Dallas officers gathered outside Baylor Hospital in Dallas to await updates on the officer's condition.
Credit: CBSDFW
A caravan of Mesquite and Dallas police cars escorted the fallen officer's body from the hospital to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office.