One person is in custody after a series of crashes ended in a flurry of gunfire near Southlake Town Square Friday morning, police say.
According to Southlake Chief of Police Ashleigh Casey, police officers were dispatched at about 9:30 a.m. after several people called to report that several vehicles had been hit a minivan by a minivan headed the wrong way on Southlake Boulevard.
Casey said as the first officer arrived at the scene, the driver of the minivan pulled a rifle out of his vehicle and began firing toward another driver and the officer. The officer returned fire but did not hit the armed man. The man was then immediately taken into custody by other officers.
"I am grateful for the quick response and actions of our officers today to protect the community and for our other law enforcement partners in the area who provided their assistance with this incident," Casey said.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Southlake police identified the man armed with the rifle on Friday afternoon as 19-year-old Sean Wallace Jordan of Colleyville. Southlake police did not provide a motive for the gunfire or share any other details about the case.
Police said the investigation is ongoing and that they expect to charge Jordan with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and that other charges could be added. It's unclear if Jordan has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
WITNESSES DESCRIBE SHOCKING OUTBURST OF GUNFIRE
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Southlake police said there were no injuries and there was no threat to the general public. Still, witnesses who spoke with NBC 5 about the gunfire said the incident was jarring.
John Maxwell said as he happened upon the crash Friday morning he smelled burning rubber and noticed a car facing the wrong direction. Maxwell said he then heard several sounds he thought were fireworks until he noticed people were scattering.
"It was at least 10 gunshots, if not 20," Maxwell said. "I was glad to hear that nobody died. It was a lot of gunshots and there was no cops on scene yet. Seemed like a semiautomatic … it was a bunch."
Maxwell said once he realized what was happening, he was desperate to get moving and out of the way.
"It kinda takes a minute for it to sink in. At that point, it was just like, cars are stopped, 'Dude, go. Go! I don't care if the light is red, go!" Maxwell said. "It was a pretty good shock. It spooked me pretty good."
Harlan Hill told NBC 5 he was in an Uber on Southlake Boulevard when a gold minivan erratically crossed over the center line and began driving westbound in the eastbound lanes. As traffic came to a stop, the driver of the minivan turned around and drove east.
A couple of minutes later, as they approached Southlake Town Square, Hill said traffic slowed, and he noticed a heavily damaged SUV alongside the gold minivan, which was now damaged and stopped in the grass. Hill said as they crept by the crash, police were arriving and they heard at least 10 rapid gunshots in quick succession. Hill said he dropped to the car's floor as the driver sped away.
SURVEILLANCE VIDEO RECORDS SHOOTING
Surveillance video obtained from a nearby jewelry store showed two people running toward Southlake Town Square and what appear to be bullets ricocheting off of the ground. In the video, one person can be heard screaming, "He's got a gun! He's got a gun!" followed by more than a dozen loud pops.
