Dallas ISD teacher killed in confrontation with DeSoto police released from jail hours earlier
DeSOTO (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A Dallas ISD teacher killed in a confrontation with DeSoto police earlier this week had been released from their jail hours earlier.
"Our officers were called to one of our local parks and interacted with a subject who was acting irrationally, and knocking over trash cans and was littering. He was taken into custody. And he was placed in our sort of regional jail. That subject was Michael Nunez, age 47."
DeSoto Police Chief Joseph Costa told reporters today that his officers couldn't say whether Nunez was on drugs or having a mental health crisis. But what is clear is that the Molina High School special education teacher's life was unravelling.
He was released from the DeSoto jail Monday morning at 9:02 a.m. By 11:38 a.m., he was the subject of a homeowner's frantic 911 call, telling dispatchers that an unknown man had entered through an unlocked door and was walking around her house.
On the 911 call, the woman could be heard screaming at Nunez to leave. He wandered outside where he was confronted by officers in the street.
Body camera footage released today shows that Nunez had something in his hand, later identified as a piece of sharpened metal.
Chief Costa told reporters that the responding officer's body camera malfunctioned, so the audio recording of the interaction is incomplete but insists that the vehicle dash camera audio captured the verbal warnings.
"It's really muffled inside the car," explains Chief Costa. "And when you listen closely, he does give commands to the subject to drop the object."
The DeSoto Police Department has what they call a Care Team to respond to possible mental health situations, telling CBS News Texas that the team spoke with Nunez' mother on Monday, but never evaluated him and was not aware that he had been released from jail.
When asked, Chief Costa acknowledged that officers are equipped with tasers, but insisted that lethal force was appropriate.
"When you are addressed with lethal – someone with a lethal weapon – the officer believed it was a knife, you heard him say, he's got a knife... the only response is lethal force."
Meanwhile, DeSoto Mayor Rachel Proctor asked for the community's prayers for all involved and extended the city's sympathies to the Nunez family.
"I believe no one wants to lose a loved one under such tragic circumstances," said Proctor at an afternoon briefing.
The officer involved in the shooting remains on routine paid administrative leave. The Grand Prairie Police Department is leading the investigation to insure an impartial inquiry. The Dallas County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division is also assisting in the investigation.
