A weekend officer-involved shooting has left a North Texas community in shock, with some wondering if the kind of violence typical of Dallas will become prevalent out in the counties.
Crandall residents woke up to find a neighborhood convenience store surrounded by police cars, yellow crime scene tape, and evidence markers.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, two law enforcement officers were shot at the Exxon in the 5500 block of FM 741 early Saturday morning while responding to a panic button call. A suspect fired at the officers as they approached, striking both of them. The officers returned fire, killing the suspect, according to the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office.
“I live two blocks behind the store, so it’s kind of scary,” said Crandall resident Carnell McCurdy, per CBS News Texas.
McCurdy, the father of three young children, said he did not expect such violence so close to his family in the small community.
“It’s heartbreaking knowing it’s right in my backyard, thinking I was moving from a neighborhood to a better neighborhood, and it’s just the same every place you go,” he added.
Another resident, Sylvester Henderson, moved to the area from Pleasant Grove in Dallas to get away from rising crime. However, after the shooting, he said he was disappointed.
“This is supposed to be a peaceful area, and I have to wake up in a peaceful area knowing that my car has been broken into, and it shouldn’t be like that,” Henderson said, per CBS News Texas. “We came from the hood. I don’t want to come out here and still have to deal with that.”
The officers, who were each shot in the leg, were taken to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas for treatment. They were released from the hospital on Sunday, according to WFAA. One of the officers was a 10-year veteran with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office. The other has been with the Crandall Police Department for three years.
The male suspect, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting.
In Dallas, there have been more than 3,400 gun-related crimes committed this year as of August 11, including 2,531 assaults, 115 homicides, 797 robberies, and 21 sexual assaults, according to a report by the Dallas Police Department.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, black and Hispanic individuals are grossly overrepresented among violent crime victims in the city.
Relatedly, DPD has been dealing with serious staffing issues, which have resulted in lower response times.
Only about 3,000 officers are currently on the street, even though a previous City analysis recommended that a force of roughly 4,000 was needed to properly maintain public safety in a jurisdiction the size of Dallas.
For its part, the Dallas City Council approved a budget of only $654 million for DPD this fiscal year, considerably less taxpayer money than what is being spent on public safety in other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.