A man suspected of being connected to the murder of an Army veteran outside a bank in Uptown Dallas has been arrested.
Corey Antwon Thompson, 45, was booked into the Dallas County jail on murder charges on Tuesday after detectives identified him as a suspect in the shooting death of Roderick Butler, 46, on December 20 at around 5 p.m. Thompson’s bond was set at $1,250,000.
Although the Dallas Police Department has yet to disclose what led them to Thompson or reveal a motive for the attack, a spokesperson, Jesse Carr, had previously released photos of the suspected gunman and told the press that the victim had likely been targeted, according to Fox 4 KDFW.
These photos, stills captured from nearby surveillance camera footage, showed a masked and hooded suspect wearing blue latex gloves and carrying what appears to be a shotgun.
On the day of the shooting, Butler was discovered lying on the sidewalk in front of Wells Fargo in the 2200 block of McKinney Avenue by Dallas Fire-Rescue. He had a critical gunshot wound and ultimately died from his injuries, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
As Butler’s family explained, he had mental health problems, which led to his medical discharge from military duty. He spent a few years living on the streets but eventually turned things around and moved into an apartment.
Tonie Butler, the victim’s mother, described her son as an avid walker, with Uptown being “one of the places he would really like to go,” according to Fox 4.
Butler was fatally shot in District 14, which Council Member Paul Ridley represents, and was the site of 9 of the 240 murders committed in Dallas as of December 26, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, DPD has launched a targeted campaign against violent crime, yet the murder rate has climbed year-over-year by 13.7%. One explanation is the challenges presented by DPD’s ongoing officer shortage.
Dallas currently has approximately 3,000 police officers on duty despite a City analysis recommending a force of roughly 4,000 to manage crime effectively. Downtown Dallas has been especially impacted by this shortage, with significantly higher rates of crime being logged there compared to Fort Worth’s downtown area, which is patrolled by a specialized police unit and private security guards.
