The DeSoto Police Department released on Friday morning video footage of Sunday's shooting involving an armed man who was shot and killed by police in front of a child.
Capt. Grady Kirkland with the DeSoto police will discuss the video and the ongoing investigation in a news conference that's expected to start at about 10:30 a.m. Live video of the news conference will appear in the player at the top of this screen.
DeSoto police said the fatal police shooting is being investigated by the DeSoto Police Department "with separate outside investigations being conducted by the Grand Prairie Police Department and the Public Integrity Office of the Dallas County District Attorney's Office to ensure the integrity of the findings."
According to the police department, officers were called to the 1100 block of Greenbriar Drive at about 4 a.m. Sunday after an armed man, who was carrying a small child and was traveling with two women, was reportedly knocking on the doors to homes and trespassing through front and backyards.
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When officers arrived and made contact with the man, police said he was holding a gun and threatened to shoot any officer he encountered. Officers tried to talk to the man and de-escalate the situation, but, according to police, the group fled into a creek behind the homes.
Police said after about 30 minutes, officers encountered the group in the 1200 block of Springbrook Circle and continued to try to get the man to drop his gun and let the small child go, but he was "uncooperative."
Police said, fearing for their safety and the child's safety, one officer armed with a rifle fired at the suspect and hit him. Police did not offer further details on what the man did that led to the officer's decision to fire.
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The man, later identified by the medical examiner as 34-year-old Jesses Martinez, was pronounced dead at the scene by DeSoto medical personnel. The two women were taken in for questioning, but police said they did not help identify Martinez. The child was turned over to family members.
Police offered no information on the relationship between the man, the two women, and the child.
DeSoto police said Tuesday that Martinez was wanted on multiple warrants, including aggravated kidnapping for ransom, and was a known violent offender with a criminal history of assaulting law enforcement officers.
The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on paid administrative leave per departmental policy.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Earlier, NBC 5 reported that the man was holding a child at the time of the shooting. Since that report, DeSoto police tell NBC 5 that the man was holding a child at the beginning of the incident, but was not holding a child at the time that he was shot.
