A shooting at a residence in southeastern Dallas on Sunday left three adults and a toddler dead and a teenager in the hospital.
The Dallas Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the 9700 block of Royce Drive shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered three adults already dead — 20-year-old Vanessa De la Cruz, 33-year-old Karina Lopez, and 50-year-old Jose Lopez, according to Fox 4 KDFW. A 1-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were transported to a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds.
The toddler, Logan De la Cruz, did not survive, but the teen has been stabilized, according to Dallas police.
Investigators quickly zeroed in on a suspect, whom they identified on Monday as 21-year-old Byron Carillo. Police said the suspect, who was wearing an ankle monitor for a 2021 aggravated assault charge, entered the home and began firing at the family inside. The suspect cut off the tracking device either before or immediately after the shooting and fled the scene.
Police said in an updated report that the suspect stole a vehicle and headed south on I- 35. Highway patrol officers located the suspect and the stolen vehicle in the Austin area around 8:35 p.m. Sunday and engaged in a pursuit. Carillo reportedly crashed the vehicle into a ditch and ran from the officers. When the officers approached him, Carillo shot himself in the head and died at the scene, per the police report.
The Texas Rangers will investigate Carillo’s death.
The fatal mass shooting occurred in Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8. Crime Score spikes in that district led to Atkins being named The Dallas Express‘ Crime Boss for the month of October.
Citywide, 226 murders have been reported so far this year, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard. This represents a 10.8% increase over the same period last year. Although DPD has made violent crime a priority by launching a targeted campaign focused on known crime hot spots, the murder rate continues to surge.
The department has been short-staffed, with only around 3,000 officers on duty despite a City report recommending an ideal staffing level of roughly 4,000. The effects of the officer deficit are apparent in Downtown Dallas, which sees considerably higher rates of crime on a regular basis compared to the downtown area of Fort Worth, which is patrolled by a designated police unit alongside private security guards.