Dallas police officers fatally shot a man wielding a replica gun this week, according to recent body camera footage released by the police department.
The incident occurred Saturday night at an apartment complex in the 3100 block of Norwalk Avenue in the northwest area of the city.
Officers first responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a suspect, identified as 26-year-old Domingo Pop Pan, attempting to break into an apartment while brandishing what appeared to be a firearm. Witnesses at the scene described Pop Pan as possibly being under the influence, noting his difficulty walking up or down stairs, according to a report from Fox 4 KDFW.
Upon arrival, officers confronted Pop Pan on a second-floor balcony area, repeatedly instructing him in both English and Spanish to show his hands. As Pan moved toward them, two officers fired multiple times after seeing what looked like the butt of a gun in the suspect’s waistband.
Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to the scene to provide medical assistance, but Pop Pan was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured in the incident.
Pop Pan had no criminal history, Fox 4 reported.
Investigators later discovered that the weapon was only a replica gun. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia emphasized to the media that the responding officers acted based on the belief that they were confronting a real gun, not a replica.
“It’s early in the investigation, but obviously, one of the witnesses that saw him laboring up the stairs thought that he may have been under the influence of something, alcohol or something; as the [toxicology report] comes back, we’ll find that out,” said Chief Eddie Garcia at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I think his brother lived in the area, but he didn’t know anybody in that apartment,” Garcia added.
The shooting came just hours after the Dallas police department held a memorial for Officer Darron Burks, who was recently killed in the line of duty in August, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“A man like Officer Burks doesn’t come out of nowhere. His spirit of service and selflessness had to be taught; it had to be cultivated from a young age. And we owe his mother and his family our deepest gratitude for instilling those values and raising such a great young man,” said Mayor Eric Johnson.
This recent replica gun shooting incident, which occurred in District 2, represented by Council Member Jess Moreno, marks the sixth officer-involved shooting in Dallas this year.
So far this year, the City of Dallas has recorded 3,999 reports of burglary and breaking and entering, according to its Crime Analytics dashboard. The DPD has been spread thin in its crime-fighting efforts due to a chronic shortage of police officers, fielding only about 3,000 despite a City analysis that recommended roughly 4,000 for a city of its size. The officer shortage has also led to delayed response times, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The department has been further hindered by a budget of $654 million this fiscal year, which is significantly less than the budgets of other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.