An officer-involved shooting in the early hours of Thursday has resulted in one person’s death, three arrests, and a search for two suspects by Mesquite police.
Police reported that a shooting incident occurred at around 3 a.m. at a 7-Eleven located at the corner of Faithon P. Lucas Boulevard and Cartwright Road. The patrol officer spotted an allegedly stolen vehicle and followed it to the convenience store’s parking lot, where a second vehicle appeared. Approaching the car, the officer made contact with six individuals aged 18 to 20.
Although it is unclear what exactly transpired leading up to the shooting, the officer opened fire, fatally wounding a male suspect driving the second vehicle. The deceased was later identified as 19-year-old Peyton Lawrence. Three other suspects were arrested at the scene, but two others absconded. A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter searched the area for several hours to no avail.
Multiple firearms were allegedly found in the second vehicle. Lawrence’s father claimed the car belonged to the deceased suspect’s twin sister, according to CBS News Texas. The officer involved in the shooting has been put on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
“Officers are constantly having to make split-second decisions,” said Lt. Brandon Ricketts, according to NBC 5 DFW. “This is what I wouldn’t [call] a routine call, but this is something that we come across quite a bit. A typical call in a night can turn it into a deadly event in a matter of seconds.”
Incidents of motor vehicle theft have been on the rise around the metroplex, with Dallas representing ground zero for such crimes. As of December 14, 17,942 offenses had been logged in Dallas, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. This represents a 40.7% increase from the year prior.
Not only is motor vehicle theft a notoriously difficult crime to solve, but the Dallas Police Department has been laboring under a significant staffing shortage. As a result, only a dozen officers are dedicated to the investigative unit for motor vehicle theft, as previously reported in The Dallas Express. Only around 3,000 are fielded in total, considerably less than the 4,000 recommended in a City report.
The detrimental effect of this deficit can be seen in Downtown Dallas, which is a hot spot for violent crime, vagrancy, and motor vehicle theft, as extensively covered by The Dallas Express. Meanwhile, Fort Worth’s city center logs considerably lower crime offenses and has a dedicated police unit working alongside private security guards to patrol it.
