A Sunday morning shooting near Victory Plaza left one dead and a teenage suspect charged with capital murder.
Dallas police responded to a shooting call just after 5 a.m. at the intersection of North Houston Street and Nowitzki Way, per DPD Beat. The crime scene lay on the border between Council Member Jesse Moreno’s District 2 and Council Member Paul Ridley’s District 14 in Downtown Dallas.
Jake Reynosa, an 18-year-old, was found shot by first responders in the street. He later died at the hospital due to his injuries.
One suspect has since been charged with capital murder — a 15-year-old girl whose name cannot be released due to her age.
Investigators told Fox 4 KDFW they believe several suspects were involved in Reynosa’s murder, although only one is in custody so far.
Marianna Malik was reportedly a witness to the shooting.
“I woke up, and I just heard something. I wasn’t sure if it was a gunshot or anything. I thought it was a hit-and-run. But I looked out the window, and I saw a gentleman laying on the ground, and I saw three people that were running. They looked at him, and then they took off running,” Malik told Fox 4.
According to Dallas police, investigators found the suspects’ vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. However, the suspects fled on foot. Only the 15-year-old was successfully apprehended.
The shooting is still under investigation, and anyone with any information should call Det. Kramer at 214-347-1713.
Crime in Dallas has remained a big concern for residents, with a total of 55,009 criminal offenses committed this year as of July 14, per the City’s crime analytics dashboard. Some 4,895 of those offenses were classified as violent crimes. Among them are 110 murders and nonnegligent manslaughter incidents.
Seventeen of the murders occurred in either District 2 or District 14. All but one of the victims were black or Hispanic, furthering the citywide trend of violent crime disproportionately affecting racial minorities.
The Dallas Police Department has been dealing with a staff shortage, which has hampered its efforts to fight crime. The department has around 3,000 officers, but a City analysis recommends it needs around 4,000 considering the size of Dallas.
Meanwhile, DPD was only allotted a budget of $654 million this fiscal year, which is much less than what other high-crime cities like Chicago and New York planned to spend on their police departments.
Louis Darrouzet, CEO of the Metroplex Civic & Business Association, has been calling for City leaders to deter crime by adding more police officers to the force.
“That’s really what [Dallas] needs, and [City leaders] seem to not be willing to invest in it. So they’re going to continue to stall the businesses that are wanting to grow or move into the city as long as there continues to be an issue [with crime],” he told The Dallas Express in a previous interview.
MCBA produces monthly analyses comparing crime data between Downtown Dallas and Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a specialized neighborhood police unit and private security guards. Far more crime occurs in the former versus the latter on a regular basis.