Police have arrested a suspect in a shooting at Town East Mall in Mesquite that injured one person Saturday night.
Officers were dispatched to the mall shortly after 7 p.m. on August 12, according to NBC 5 DFW. The suspect, 39-year-old Zettie Minter, was quickly arrested at the scene. The victim, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.
Minter has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. An investigation into the shooting revealed that the alleged shooter and victim knew each other, and the shooting resulted from an altercation the two had inside the mall.
Minter’s bond was set to $105,000, according to the Mesquite Police Department.
There have been 4,256 aggravated assaults so far this year in Dallas, which includes shootings, according to police data. Collectively, there have been 16,275 assaults this year, including aggravated assaults.
There have been 157 homicides so far this year, according to police data updated on August 13, up 6% from the same period last year.
While Mesquite police were able to quickly apprehend the suspect in this case, nearby Dallas has struggled to effectively curb crime due to a police officer shortage. The Dallas Police Department currently employs around 3,100 officers, and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has said the department needs at least 600 more.
However, an analysis conducted by the City determined that a municipality the size of Dallas needs roughly 4,000 police officers, which indicates that the number of additional officers could be closer to 900.
The shortage of police has been especially felt in Downtown Dallas, which logs considerably more criminal incidents than Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a dedicated police unit that works alongside private security guards.
“With this many eyes and ears on the street, people who are up to no good feel very uncomfortable,” said Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., WFAA reported.
