A shooting at a party in South Dallas this weekend left one dead and eight others wounded, and the assailant has yet to be apprehended.
The fallout from a suspected gang-related shooting early Sunday morning continues as police hunt for a gunman, a community calls out what they believe to have been a lackluster law enforcement response, and a family grieves the loss of a young woman.
Officers from the Dallas Police Department were deployed to the 4500 block of Collins Avenue after 911 fielded reports of gunfire at a street party around 11:10 p.m. on Saturday. Upon arriving at the location, police said the shooting had stopped, and no one appeared to have been injured. The responding officers continued to monitor the crowd of up to 50 people from a nearby location.
However, gunfire once again rang out among the partygoers at 1:35 a.m., this time striking nine people — seven female and two male.
The nine victims were transported to area hospitals. All but one were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The only fatality was 21-year-old Coriesha Bradford, who died of her wounds at Baylor Hospital.
“She was loved,” Bradford’s grandmother, Thelma Oudems, told The Dallas Morning News.
Oudems recalled her granddaughter’s “old soul” and love and talent for music.
“They wanted her to sing at church,” she said. “Yesterday, she was talking about how she was going to go to church today.”
Oudems explained that Bradford was at the wrong place at the wrong time, leaving her family to grapple with the senseless loss.
“You give it to God. He’s going to take care of everything,” Oudems said. “Just give it to him. That’s what I’ve been doing all my life.”
While DPD is currently investigating the shooting as gang-related, the gunman has yet to be identified and is still at large. An internal probe has also been launched into the officers’ handling of the incident, which has been subject to heavy scrutiny.
Lisa Mitchell, 49, said she was one of multiple neighbors who called police around 11 p.m. She said officers “drove through” the area but thinks they should have done more to investigate.
“What are we paying DPD for?” asked Mitchell, per DMN.
“We have to work to provide for our families, but do your job you signed up for,” she added. “That’s what I don’t understand. If you had gotten up when I called you and said something, you would have had a lot of people in handcuffs.”
This sentiment was echoed by Bradford’s family members.
“A bunch of people at one in the morning,” said Bradford’s aunt Patrice Price, per NBC 5 DFW. “Cops should’ve been making everyone leave.”
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has released a statement responding to residents’ concerns:
“I have many questions about what happened last night that led to the death of a 21-year-old woman and eight people being injured. While the preliminary investigation determined officers who responded did not observe criminal activity among the people in the area at the time, this event ultimately led to tragic consequences. Our homicide detectives are currently working to determine who was involved in this incident and how.
“I’ve ordered an internal investigation to determine if we could have handled the circumstances of this call differently. Every day the men and women of this department work to keep our city safe. It’s important that we gather all the facts before coming to any conclusions. I am committed to the highest level of accountability, professionalism, and transparency for the Dallas Police Department.”
Despite various recruitment and retention initiatives, DPD has been woefully understaffed for quite some time. Moreover, the Dallas City Council recently approved a budget of $654 million for DPD this fiscal year, significantly less than the spending on police seen in other high-crime municipalities, such as Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.
Only around 3,000 officers are fielded, although a City analysis recommended that the department should have around 4,000 officers on its force.
This shortfall has dampened DPD’s efforts to fight crime, which is most apparent in the rising rates in certain areas of the city — such as Downtown Dallas — and certain crime categories like motor vehicle theft and simple assault.
Sunday’s shooting occurred in Council Member Adam Bazaldua’s District 7, which has seen the fourth-highest number of crimes reported in 2024 as of April 14, per data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard. While assaults, drug offenses, and motor vehicle theft are the most prevalent forms of criminality, there have been 11 murders committed there — a 10% increase from the same period last year.
Of the 62 criminal homicides logged citywide, the overwhelming majority of victims have been Hispanic or black.
