One police officer was killed on Thursday night and two others were injured by a suspect who appeared to be targeting the police in Dallas, Texas.
At around 10 p.m. on Thursday night, officers with the Dallas Police Department responded to the 900 block of East Ledbetter Drive for a call about an officer in distress. Upon arriving at the scene, they discovered their fellow officer “shot in a marked squad car,” according to Fox News. Officers “exchanged gunfire with a suspect at the scene” — leading to two officers being wounded.
Other police officers chased down the suspect, who fled in a vehicle and drove roughly 30 miles away to Lewisville after murdering their fellow officer. The chase ended with the cop killer jumping out of his vehicle with a long gun and being shot and killed by the responding officers.
The murdered officer’s family identified him on Friday as 46-year-old Darron Burks — a former school teacher who recently graduated from the police academy and joined the Dallas Police Department, according to the Dallas Morning News. Officials have not yet released the identities of the wounded officers to the public, nor have they named the suspect as of Friday afternoon.
Dallas Police Department spokeswoman Kristin Lowman issued a statement about the horrific crime, writing: “We ask tonight and this morning for the thoughts and prayers of our city, for not only those who are recovering in the hospital but for our fallen, for their family, and for their loved ones, and for us as a department as well.”
She went on to state that “our department is hurting” and “we have officers who are injured who are in the hospital and we lost one of our own.”
Interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert also issued a statement, which read: “The City of Dallas is a family, and as we mourn the loss of one of our own, I ask that you continue to support and lift up the entire Dallas Police Department in prayer over the next several days and weeks. May God bless and keep them and may God Bless the City of Dallas.”
In a post on X, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia simply wrote, “No words.”
No words. @DallasPD pic.twitter.com/OvlRKJp2d4
— Eddie Garcia (@DPDChiefGarcia) August 30, 2024
Flags at all Dallas Police Department facilities will be flying at half-staff for the fallen officer. Dozens of police officers also honored their fallen colleague throughout the night, waiting outside the Methodist Dallas Medical Center, according to KDFW. At around 4 a.m. that evening, the fallen officer was transported to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office in a procession.
