One person is dead and another is in critical condition after a police chase from Richardson to Dallas on Monday afternoon, police say.
The incident began at approximately 3:35 p.m. when a Richardson Fire Department arson investigator notified the Richardson Police Department that he saw a vehicle connected to a homicide in Kaufman County, police said.
According to the Richardson Police Department, officers attempted to stop the vehicle in the 500 block of Centennial Boulevard in Richardson. The driver refused to pull over, police said, and began accelerating.
Police said officers pursued the vehicle into Dallas, and when the chase reached the 13600 block of Esperanza Drive, the driver began shooting at the police officers from the moving vehicle.
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One officer returned fire during the pursuit, police said.
Surveillance footage showed the car passing by La Casita Taqueria, followed by multiple police units.
“We were busy right here inside and just heard shooting,” said Iliana Laura Medina. “And we turn around, and it was just like the police shooting at the people in the car inside.”
Witnesses said they heard multiple gunshots appearing to come from officers chasing the car.
“I was shocked. Like, what happened?” Medina said. “Questioning where it started, those things.”
According to police, the driver stopped on the southbound Frontage Road of the 13100 block of North Central Expressway in Dallas.
Video from Texas Sky Ranger showed a large number of police officers stopped near a Central Expressway entrance ramp along the Dallas-Richardson border. A small crossover SUV was seen at the scene, stopped and straddling a curb with all four doors open. A Richardson police SUV at the scene had a flat tire.
Police said the officers found three children, ages 5, 15, and 17, in the back seat. The children exited the vehicle and were physically unharmed.
Officers used a drone and ballistic shields to approach the vehicle safely, and they discovered the male driver had a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
According to police, the front female passenger had multiple gunshot wounds, which were later determined to be inflicted by the male driver.
Police said the officers and the arson investigator provided emergency medical assistance to the driver and passenger.
Dallas Fire-Rescue pronounced the male driver dead at the scene, police said. NBC 5 has learned the deceased was a suspect in a Kaufman County murder investigation.
The female passenger was transported to Medical City of Dallas in critical condition.
Moments after the chase ended, NBC 5 captured video of a woman and two children being led into an ambulance at the scene.
Richardson police officials said they planned to share more information about how this chase began and the identities of the people involved.
The southbound U.S. Highway 75 Service Road between 75 and North Central Expressway and Interstate 635/Lyndon B Johnson Freeway was closed in response to the incident, leading to traffic delays. The police activity backed up southbound traffic on 75 past Campbell Road.
Police said the officer involved in the shooting was not injured and has been placed on administrative leave according to Richardson Police Department policy.
According to Richardson police, the Dallas Police Department is leading the criminal investigation because the incident occurred in Dallas. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office is also investigating the incident per normal protocols.
