A violent weekend in North Texas has families grieving and police searching for suspects. Since Friday night in Dallas alone, there have been 11 shootings. Three of the victims were killed.
Easter Sunday morning, as some people prepared for church around 8 a.m., Dallas Police responded to a shooting at a nightclub on Denton Drive near Harry Hines Boulevard.
Three people were shot at that location, and one of them died.
Witness Isam Santos said he heard the gunfire from his nearby auto repair business.
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He said there is trouble in the area every weekend.
“Everybody is concerned here. You cannot just work or be a regular citizen here. You might get shot for no reason because people lose control over here,” Santos said.
Saturday night around 11:15 on Polk Street south of I-20 in Dallas, 24-year-old Andy Rangel was murdered.
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His sister Sandra said he was a happy, outgoing person. She said she could not understand why anyone would shoot him.
“He went and bought himself some clothes for Easter and unfortunately, he didn’t get to use them. The way we had to spend our Easter, I don’t ever wish on anybody,” she said.
The Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee had a brief from Dallas Police Monday on the city’s violent crime reduction plan.
Through March 31, 2021, the briefing said overall violent crime has continued to decline slightly compared with the first three months of 2022.
The number of crime victims continues to decline but the number of murder victims has increased by nearly 30% since 2022. Most of the killings are the result of unresolved disputes that escalate to violence.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn suggested de-escalation programs.
“Helping people understand how to walk away and still feel like you’re respected and have dignity instead of escalating something,” Mendelsohn said.
Officials have targeted crime-prone neighborhoods with programs like that. They say big seizures of drugs, guns and cash have resulted from the communication those programs develop between police and the community.
But Chief Eddie Garcia said Dallas Police are like a 7-player baseball team, short on detectives and patrol officers.
“We’re doing our very best to try to get to where the batter is going to hit the ball, but we only have 7 of the 9 position players,” Garcia said. “Sometimes the ball is going to drop where the data is telling us the ball should be hit, but unfortunately, we don’t have somebody there.”
Sandra Rangel said what happened to her brother could happen to anyone in Dallas, and she must refrain from going after the people responsible to stay strong for her family.
“Maybe if I don’t get justice for my brother, it’s OK. But I know God will do justice for him,” she said.
Isam Santos, the Harry Hines Boulevard witness, said law-abiding neighbors must support police.
“We have to cooperate with regular citizens to make our community better because it is getting worse over here,” he said
Police Monday said no arrests had been made in the 11 shootings.
Police and city officials said they are working hard to boost police recruiting and keep veteran officers from leaving the force.
The first of the weekend shootings was Friday around 11:25 p.m. in the 6900 block of Clarkridge Drive. That victim survived.
Other shootings include police calls:
- Saturday at 2:35 a.m. in the 2600 block of Ingersoll Street. A teenager was shot in the foot.
- Saturday at about 3:00 a.m. in the 8100 block of Leigh Ann Drive. Police said the victim was transported to a local hospital after a fight and died from his injures.
- Saturday at about 4:40 a.m. in the 4600 block of Frankford Rd. A man was wounded by a gunshot in the leg.
- Saturday at about 8:15 a.m. in the 2600 block of Jeffries Street. A man was shot in the ankle.
- Saturday at 9:23 a.m in the 2100 block of Marfa Ave. Police said a man was shot in the arm after an argument.
- Sunday at about 1:00 a.m. in the 6500 block of Ridgecrest Road. A man was transported to a local hospital and was in critical condition from a gunshot wound.
- Sunday at about 3:40 a.m. in the 1100 block of South Montreal Avenue. A man and woman were shot. They were transported to a hospital and survived their injuries.
