Authorities have explained the supposed circumstances surrounding the incident in which a 13-year-old boy was shot at his home last Wednesday in North Dallas and announced the relationship between the victim and the man who allegedly pulled the trigger.
The Dallas Police Department (DPD) said the alleged shooter, Randy Edwards, 53, was the boy’s father and that the incident stemmed from the boy reportedly “misbehaving,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The document shed further light on what led to the shooting at the Lake Highlands home in City Councilman Adam McGough’s District 10.
Police responded to the 8400 block of Ellery Drive near U.S. 75 and Interstate 635 at around 8 p.m. on February 23 to find that a young boy had been shot.
According to the affidavit, the 13-year-old had been playing outside the home while suspect Edwards and his daughter, the victim’s 11-year-old sister, were inside.
Edwards was cooking dinner while the boy was apparently “acting up,” according to a witness statement from the victim’s sister cited in the affidavit. He was hitting the door frame and windows repeatedly with a stick and throwing rocks at the front of the house, she said.
The boy’s father reportedly instructed the boy to stop multiple times, at one point allegedly threatening to “shoot the window if [the boy] didn’t stop,” the sister’s statement read.
Edwards’ son persisted, however, allegedly prompting the 53-year-old man to produce a black handgun and fire a single shot at the door. The boy was hit in the abdomen by a bullet. He attempted to flee but collapsed on the neighbor’s property across the street.
Allegedly taking the gun with him, Edwards apparently fled the scene without assisting his son, according to the affidavit.
The boy was taken to Children’s Medical Center Dallas. He was admitted in critical condition on Wednesday but listed in stable condition the following day, per WFAA.
Edwards was taken into custody by DPD on Friday and was charged with aggravated assault of a family member with a deadly weapon, according to The Dallas Morning News. Edwards’ bail was set at $75,000, per the DMN, but it was unclear as of Monday whether he was still being held at Dallas County jail.
The incident at the Edwards residence is just the latest family violence case to contribute to Dallas’ recent rise in reported violent crimes, unchecked by a seemingly ineffectual city council.
As of Sunday, according to a DPD crime briefing, Dallas saw significant spikes in family violence aggravated assaults (10.08%) and sexual assaults (11.11%) year-to-date compared to 2022.