Dallas

Dallas SWAT Use Explosives to Rescue Hostage Held at Knifepoint

Man holds clerk at knifepoint in southern Dallas gas station

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Dallas police SWAT officers used explosive charges to breach a barricaded gas station office overnight Wednesday to bring an end to a hostage situation inside.

The incident developed after midnight, according to police, and started with a disturbance inside of the gas station convenience store in the 7500 block of South Westmoreland Road, just southwest of the interchange between Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway 67.

The man in the disturbance left the store after the initial incident but later returned with a knife, according to police. The man, who has not yet been named, came in, hopped over the counter and attacked the clerk before dragging him into a back office inside of the store, police said.

A manager at the store who fled to safety during the attack was later able to give officers remote video access to the security camera system in the store so they could confirm the hostage situation and the location of the armed man and the victim.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, SWAT officers detonated a charge that allowed them to breach the room and safely rescue the hostage and take the man into custody.

Both the hostage and the armed man were treated at the scene. The suspect was taken in for a mental health evaluation after being taken into custody.

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