A freshman student from South Oak Cliff High School was grazed by a bullet near campus shortly before the end of the school day on Monday, which led to a lockdown that lasted for about 40 minutes.
Dallas police told CBS News Texas that four to five males were involved in an altercation at Renaissance Park, which is located across the street from the school, when someone in the group fired a gun. A nearby resident, Roberto Arellano, told WFAA he heard four to five shots ring out.
One of the bullets grazed a female student who was walking in the park. The girl immediately ran back to the school to seek medical assistance, and school officials delayed school dismissal while Dallas police arrived on the scene to secure the premises.
The student, who has not been identified publicly, was taken to the hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
It is unclear whether the individuals involved in the altercation were students at the school, but an unnamed source purportedly told WFAA that a group of students were skipping school at the park when the fight broke out.
A Dallas ISD spokesperson told WFAA that the girl was not an intended target of the shooting and was a bystander.
Council Member Carolyn King Arnold, who represents District 4, where the shooting occurred, expressed regret that young people seem to turn so quickly to guns to resolve their conflicts.
“Perhaps they could have resolved through some type of conflict resolution. They could have gone to a counselor. … But for some reason, it seems to be so easy for young people to get their hands on guns, and that’s very, very troubling,” Arnold said, per CBS.
This most recent shooting incident comes just days after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old David Washington, who was killed after attending a high school football game at John Kincaide Stadium. Dallas police have arrested a 16-year-old suspect in connection with Washington’s murder.
The incident at Renaissance Park is still under investigation. Arnold said that City leaders would consider adding more lights, cameras, and smart sensors at the park, CBS reported.
So far this year, Dallas has logged 4,196 aggravated assaults and 135 murders. According to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard, 24 murder victims so far this year have been teens between the ages of 14 and 18.
The Dallas police department has focused on deterring violent crime over the last three years, but it has been hindered in its efforts by a chronic shortage of police officers. The department has only about 3,000 officers, despite a City analysis that recommended a force of about 4,000 for a jurisdiction of Dallas’ size.
In addition, City leaders have given the DPD a budget of only $654 million this fiscal year, far less than the budgets of other high-crime cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Crime is particularly rampant in the downtown area, where the neighborhood regularly outpaces the crime rate in the city center of nearby Fort Worth.
Fort Worth utilizes dedicated police units and private security guards to patrol its downtown area.