Hours after the owner of a café in South Dallas was gunned down in an apparent robbery, Dallas police shot and killed a man, DPD says, was in a car believed to be connected to the fatal robbery.
As of now, DPD is not saying what led a SWAT officer to open fire on the still unidentified suspect.
Stunned employees are calling the café owner a hero for rushing them to safety.
Dallas police are only confirming a 23-year-old is in custody in connection to the murder at the Café Delicious in South Dallas where friends and customers have been met with closed doors and heartbreak.
“I can’t believe this happened,” said Jeannette Pinson.
The owner of the café, Brian Harp, was gunned down in the middle of the afternoon during an apparent robbery, but not before saving two employees including Letonya Turner.
“I was cutting some yams and we seen some people come in and [Harp] told me to get in the storage room and I wouldn’t go. I told him we’ll both get down, we’ll both go together and he said: No, you got my son. I need you to get in the storage room,” she said.
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Harp, she says, pushed her and another worker whom he considered a son inside of a storage room.
Harp also blocked her son from coming into the café from a back entrance to help as armed robbers rushed in at about 1:30 p.m., she said.
“[The robbers] asked him to come to the front and when he come to the front I heard gunshots and not long later, my son came and [Harp] was gone. My partner was gone. He was laying down gone. But he was a hero because he saved me and my son,” said Turner.
Dallas police say approximately four people were involved in the robbery but it is not known why this particular café was targeted.
The robbers left with ‘property,’ according to police.
Overnight, police say they tried carrying out a warrant at an apartment complex in far northeast Dallas on a car suspected in the robbery and murder when several people inside the car got out and ran.
Among those who ran, according to DPD, was a person with an assault rifle who was then shot and killed by a SWAT officer.
DPD says it is still not known if the suspect pointed the gun at the SWAT officer.
The suspect who was shot and killed by police has not yet been identified and DPD says it is not yet known if he is a suspect in the café murder.
“[Harp] is so sweet. He helps everybody,” said Turner. “Why would they do that to him? If y’all wanted the money, he gave it to y’all. Why y’all take his life?”
Anyone with information on the fatal robbery is urged to call Dallas police.
