2 Fatal Shootings Are The Latest In Dallas Crime Trend
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Police are looking for a killer after two deadly shootings at a north Dallas apartment complex. Officers responded to a call shortly after 12:30 a.m. early Monday at the Las Brisas Apartments, located near the intersection of Whitehurst Drive and Skillman Street.
A man was shot to death near the apartment complex's entrance. Then, authorities found a second shooting victim at another apartment complex nearby, the Bella Apartments along Royal Lane. That second victim was taken to Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas where he later died.
The first victim has been identified by law enforcement officials as 19-year-old Derek Jordan. The second victim has only been identified as a 19-year-old Latin male. Police explained that both teens appear to have been involved in a drug transaction that ended in gunfire. According to officials, Jordan and an accomplice attempted to rob the second victim and a witness.
Crime scene investigators searched two cars at the second location, but have not given out any details about possible suspects in this case. Anyone with information about the shootings is urged to contact the Dallas Police Department at 214-671-3661 or Crime Stoppers at 214-373-TIPS. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment in this offense.
These killings add to an already deadly month of March compared to last year, and some disturbing overall crime numbers for the City of Dallas. The Dallas Police Department is presenting their statistics to the Dallas City Council on Monday, as they do regularly, but the news is not good.
Officers have been asked to explain what is behind a new trend in the city. Crime numbers are up through the first two months of the year. Violent crime has risen by 30 percent, aggravated assault is up 48 percent and murder has increased by 32 percent in the early part of 2016.
Comparing this month to March of last year, murder in Dallas has seen an increase by more than 100 percent. There were just five killings last March, but 17 murders so far in the month this year -- and that does not include the two shooting deaths from early Monday.
The feeling at Dallas City Hall is that Chief David Brown had better figure out some answers for how to curb the rising crime numbers. Dallas City Council members want to hear a plan of action. "I want to hear specifics. I want to hear a plan that is not just a PR plan," said council member Adam McGough. "It's a plan that's going to focus on what we are going to do, as a police department and as a city, to make a difference and reduce those crime numbers."
