A Grand Prairie police officer shot a woman to death over the weekend following a domestic violence call.
The officer, who has not been identified by authorities, was placed on administrative leave after the deadly incident, which occurred around 7 p.m. Saturday night in the 1200 block of Tripoli Trail.
“We heard three or four loud bangs,” said Rick Woods, who lives just down the block from the residence where the shooting took place, per Fox 4 KDFW.
The domestic violence call reportedly stemmed from a lovers’ quarrel between two women, one of whom allegedly brandished a firearm in the presence of law enforcement officers and pointed it at them and the victim.
“[T]he suspect exited the residence with a firearm in her hand, in a shooting position, pointing it in the direction of the officers and the victim. The officer was not afforded time to de-escalate and immediately responded to the threat in order to protect the lives of the officers and the victim,” the Grand Prairie Police Department said in a statement, according to NBC 5 DFW.
The identities of both the suspect and victim have not been made public yet, pending notification of the deceased’s next of kin.
“I hope it wasn’t my neighbor,” said neighborhood resident Morena De La Hoya, per NBC 5. “She was very sweet, kept to herself.”
Violent crime has long been an issue in North Texas, especially in Dallas, where murders are up by more than 10% year to date, with some 230 incidents reported so far in 2023.
The Dallas Police Department has been having a tough time getting crime under control amid a serious staffing shortage. The department currently has only around 3,000 officers on the street. A City analysis recommends a jurisdiction the size of Dallas maintains about 4,000.
Relatedly, Downtown Dallas has been bearing the brunt of the shortage, logging considerably more criminal activity than Fort Worth’s city center. The latter is patrolled by a dedicated police unit and private security guards.
