Update on Dallas ISD officer who was shot | FULL
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux and Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez give an update on the officer who was injured in a shooting in a Sam’s Club parking lot on Thursday morning. That injured officer is currently in surgery at Parkland Hospital.
DALLAS – A Dallas ISD police officer was shot while trying to help someone near the Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Northwest Dallas on Thursday morning.
Dallas Police Shooting
What we know:
The officer-involved shooting happened around 11 a.m. outside the shopping center off the LBJ Freeway near Midway Road.
Images from SKY 4 showed dozens of police vehicles from multiple agencies in the store parking lot and in the alleyways near the scene. Crime scene tape surrounded a police vehicle and blood stains.
Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez confirmed the injured officer is one of his officers – 39-year-old Officer Justin Jones, who is assigned to White High School and has been with the department for 16 years.
DISD Police Officer Justin Jones, 39
Officer Jones was taken to Parkland Hospital with a critical gunshot wound to the leg. He is currently in surgery, the chief said.
A possible suspect was taken into custody.
What they’re saying:
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said the shooting happened after Officer Jones was flagged down and intercepted someone who was in crisis on the LBJ Freeway. He took that person to the parking lot to get him out of danger.
“After he got to this parking lot, he was trying to talk to the person who is now a suspect. He was getting out the car, and then we had a shooting that occurred. The officer was shot,” Chief Comeaux said.
“He was helping somebody in crisis, as we expect the officers to serve in the community. And we’re grateful to all the help that we have received. He’s in our prayers. We’re thankful. We thank Parkland, the amazing surgeons there at the trauma center that do what they do,” Chief Martinez added.
Martinez asked the community to pray for Jones and his family, as well as a second Dallas ISD officer who arrived at the scene shortly afterward and applied a life-saving tourniquet.
What we don’t know:
Officials have not yet released any information about the suspect’s identity.
This shooting does not appear to be related to another officer-involved shooting that happened around the same time just a few miles away in a North Dallas neighborhood.
The Source: The information in this story comes from Dallas ISD, the Dallas Police Department, and the SKY 4 helicopter.