1 Dallas police officer dead, 2 wounded in Oak Cliff shooting; suspect shot and killed
DALLAS – One Dallas police officer is dead and two wounded after a shooting in Oak Cliff late Thursday night, Dallas police said.
They responded to an officer in distress call in the 900 block of E. Ledbetter Drive just after 10 p.m. Thursday.
Officers found one officer shot in a patrol vehicle, a spokesperson for the Dallas Police Department, Kristin Lowman, said in a press conference early Friday morning.
Gunshots were exchanged between the responding officers and a suspect at the scene. Two officers were shot.
All three officers were taken to local hospitals. One is dead, one is in critical condition and the third is in stable condition, Lowman said.
According to a CBS News Texas photojournalist at the hospital, DPD chaplains said one of the officers, a man, has superficial wounds, is awake, "in good spirits" and could be released Friday. The other officer who was shot, a woman, has more serious injuries but are non-life-threatening.
The suspect then fled from the shooting scene. Dallas police officers pursued the suspect and the chase ended in the 1000 block of Stemmons Freeway in Lewisville, about 40 miles from the original scene. This portion of I-35E was shut down for about seven hours.
Dallas police said the suspect got out of the vehicle with a "long gun" before officers shot at the suspect, killing the suspect.
Lewisville police said Dallas officers led the chase on northbound I-35 and no Lewisville officers were involved.
CBS News Texas crews on the scene at Baylor University Medical Center and Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas overnight said both had a heavy police presence.
A CBS News Texas photojournalist at Methodist Dallas Medical Center said officers were lining up at the entrance in a salute. Officers departed from the hospital in a processional honoring the fallen officer at 4 a.m. Friday.
DPD Chief Eddie Garcia was not at the press conference Friday morning but on social media said he had "No words."
"Our department is hurting. We have officers that are injured and who are in the hospital, and we lost one of our own," Lowman said. "We ask tonight and this morning for the thoughts and prayers of our city, not only [for] those who are recovering in the hospital but for our fallen, for their family and for their loved ones and for us at the department as well."
DPD said flags at all city facilities will be flown at half-staff in memory of the slain officer.