Once again, Dallas, TX finds itself in the news after police officers were shot. This time, however, the results are quite a bit different, thankfully.
Yesterday, two police officers were wounded when a gunman opened fire.
A five-hour hunt for the gunman who shot two Dallas police officers and a Home Depot employee Tuesday ended with a high-speed chase through the city.
Authorities arrested Armando Luis Juarez, 29, who faces multiple charges of aggravated assault on a police officer in the shootings at the Lake Highlands store. He also had an outstanding felony theft warrant, Dallas police Chief U. Renee Hall said.
Juarez had been spotted in southeast Dallas driving the truck he’d reportedly fled the Home Depot in. Officers pursued him to a neighborhood near Love Field, where he was swarmed by dozens of officers about 9:15 p.m.
A woman with him was also taken into custody. Her name has not been released.
“I want to thank our Dallas police tonight,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said late Tuesday. “They’ve taken a punch, and they’ve come out fighting.”
Juarez originally had been described as a person of interest in the shootings, which occurred about 4:15 p.m.
An off-duty police officer working at the Home Depot near U.S. Highway 75 and Forest Lane had called for assistance after detaining a man, said Hall, who did not explain why he was being held.
When police arrived, the detained man “produced a handgun” and shot the responding officers and the store’s loss-prevention officer, police said. The off-duty officer was not wounded.
The three victims were taken to Texas Health Presbyterian of Dallas, where they underwent surgery Tuesday night. Officials declined to release their names or detail their injuries.
Officials are currently refusing to comment on the officers’ conditions. That could mean they’re bad, or it could mean they simply haven’t gotten hold of the family yet and don’t want people learning this kind of thing on the news first.
I’m inclined to think it’s probably something closer to the latter.
This incident comes on the heels of two other officers being gunned down in Florida. While there’s absolutely no reason to see the two cases as connected, it’s still difficult not to think of one when you think of the other, especially in light of what happened following the previous case of officers being shot in Dallas.
Hopefully, the officers are only suffering from relatively minor wounds and will be back on the streets quick, fast, and in a hurry.
However, this case is troubling. Again, it’s on the heels of the Florida shooting. Are we about to see an uptick in anti-police violence? Even if this wasn’t a case of that sort, could it still help stoke the fires for those who are already resentful of police officers?
Let’s hope not. I pray I’m just being a little paranoid and absolutely nothing comes of this. In truth, that’s probably what will happen.
Either way, the alleged shooter was arrested and won’t be able to hurt anyone else. Even if I’m not paranoid, that’s a win…and since I probably am, that’s an even better win.
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