A shooting happened outside of a liquor store in South Dallas on Thursday afternoon that led to the death of one woman and the wounding of three men.
At around 4 p.m., the Dallas Police Department received reports of a shooting with multiple injuries in the 5200 block of Colonial Avenue. The suspect was later identified as 44-year-old Larry Deckard, according to WFAA.
Deckard had been standing outside a liquor store when he allegedly produced a firearm and began shooting at people nearby.
One female victim died on the scene, and three male victims were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. The three males are reportedly expected to survive, according to The Dallas Morning News.
When DPD arrived at the scene, officers and armored police vehicles took positions in the 4800 block of Botham Jean Boulevard. The suspected gunman had barricaded himself inside an auto shop and was not taken into custody until later in the evening.
Deckard was taken to a hospital for a comprehensive evaluation but has since been charged with murder. He is currently being held on $1 million bail, according to jail records.
Police are reportedly still investigating the incident. The shooting took place in District 7, which is represented by Council Member Adam Bazaldua.
Another incident involving the firing of a firearm at a group of people in the street occurred in District 7 earlier this summer.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a block party in the 3000 block of Al Lipscomb Way in the early hours of July 16 was interrupted when multiple unidentified individuals wearing ski masks began firing at the crowd from a dark SUV. The incident left a woman, 24-year-old Shaniah Jones, dead and four others injured. An investigation led to a suspect, 23-year-old Laquest Sirls, who was arrested and charged with murder on August 31.
DPD’s ability to respond to crime has been hampered in recent years by an ongoing shortage of police officers. A City report previously advised that a city the size of Dallas needs to have about 4,000 officers on staff. The department currently has fewer than 3,200 sworn officers.
Dallas has seen 172 criminal homicides this year as of September 8, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime overview dashboard, marking a year-over-year increase of 8.18%.
Downtown Dallas has been especially affected by the police shortage, consistently logging much higher crime rates than Fort Worth’s downtown area. The latter is patrolled by a dedicated police unit and private security officers.