DALLAS — Dallas police are investigating a Thursday night shooting that resulted in the death of one officer, the suspected shooter and two other injured officers.
This is the latest in a string of shootings that have involved Dallas police officers in 2023 and 2024 -- either officers shooting suspects or the officers being shot themselves.
According to Dallas police, there have been 16 separate shootings involving Dallas officers since the beginning of last year. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia has previously said that, in the majority of the cases, the suspects fired at officers first.
Officer Down Memorial Page has a list keeping track of all Dallas police officers who have died.
Here's a look at shootings involving officers that have happened since January 2023:
July 25, 2023
Police said officers were investigating reports of a stolen U-Haul truck at about 11 a.m. on July 25, 2023, in the Northwest Dallas area when they saw the suspect, 41-year-old Ryan Taylor, get into the truck and drive away.
Covert officers called in marked patrol officers to stop the truck, police said. But while stopped at an intersection, Taylor backed into the covert police vehicle, causing its airbags to deploy and hit a fire hydrant.
Taylor then reportedly fled down side streets, police said, striking multiple cars as he was driving away.
The suspect then reportedly drove onto the tollway and then onto Lemmon Avenue, where the suspect struck several vehicles near Dallas Love Field and then crashed and came to a rest in the southbound lanes. Dash camera video showed the U-Haul truck ramming into multiple vehicles on the tollway, nearly colliding with a city bus in the middle of an intersection and the crash that happened shortly thereafter.
Police said Taylor got out of the U-Haul truck and ran toward a private hanger area. Officer Kennan Craven and others ran after Taylor, police said, and reportedly fired a handgun at least twice at Craven. The officer then returned fire, striking Taylor twice in the leg.
Aug. 7, 2023
Dallas police said Officer Matthew Bacon was part of the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force – a joint venture between Dallas and Mesquite police officers – that was serving an arrest warrant to a murder suspect at a Dallas apartment complex in the 3700 block of South Tyler Street, near Highway 67, at around 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 7.
Law enforcement sources said Bacon was in a group of officers that approached the suspect in a vehicle at the complex, and that he was among the at least four officers who fired their service weapons after the suspect allegedly produced a gun and pointed it in their direction.
The suspect, later identified as 36-year-old Corey Thomas, was transported to a hospital, where he died of injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
Thomas was wanted for an alleged murder that occurred on July 24, 2023, on Mentor Street in Dallas.
According to internal DPD memos obtained by WFAA, Bacon took his own life on Tuesday, Aug. 8 – just one day after he fired his weapon in the fatal shooting that killed Thomas.
Aug. 9, 2023
The shooting happened about 12:45 a.m. Aug. 9 in the 2400 block of Northwest Highway near Interstate 35E. An officer with the North Crime Response Team, identified as Nathaniel Chapman, called 911 saying he had been shot and his covert vehicle had been stolen.
Garcia told WFAA that a car was parked behind Chapman and a suspect with two guns got out and approached his vehicle. Chapman then got out of his car, and both he and the suspect shot at each other.
In the video, you see the three suspects – all of whom have since been arrested – pull up behind Chapman in a parking lot, and demand at gunpoint that he get out of his car.
The three suspects were identified as 19-year-old Redricous Lewis, 17-year-old Redtravion Polk and 18-year-old Xavier Cook. They were all arrested in Shreveport, La.
The video shows Chapman get out of his car, and as he is backing away, he pulls out his gun before gunfire is exchanged. None of the suspects were hit, but Chapman was shot in the left leg. Evidence shows the suspects fired at Chapman at least nine times.
Sept. 14, 2023
According to DPD, officers were driving in the 4800 block of Scyene Road when they witnessed a suspect – identified Friday as 45-year-old Juan Vincente Zavala Lopez – firing into a vehicle. When they turned their car around to respond, DPD said Zavala Lopez opened fire on the officers.
As the officers began returning fire, DPD said Zavala Lopez entered a car and drove away from the scene, and a chase began.
DPD said Zavala Lopez then began firing at officers again near the 4700 block of Second Avenue and an officer was shot in the chest, but was saved by the bullet proof vest he was wearing.
The officer was transported to a local hospital in an unknown condition, but DPD said they’re in stable condition.
Zavala Lopez ran away from the scene on foot. Shortly after 8 p.m., Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce that Zavala Lopez was in custody.
Sept. 24, 2023
A man was fatally shot by Dallas officers early on Sept. 24, 2023, after leading them on a chase with a stolen vehicle, police said.
The incident started at about 12:40 a.m. According to Dallas police, officers were on a routine investigation on Barnes Ridge Road and El Capitan Drive when they saw the vehicle.
The officers decided to perform a traffic stop and went to approach the suspect when he allegedly pulled out a gun and started shooting. Police fired back and the suspect sped off from the scene.
Officers went after the suspect until he lost control of the car and flipped it. Dallas police said the suspect shot at police as officers approached the wrecked vehicle. The officers fired back and shot the suspect who was later pronounced dead.
Nov. 16, 2023
Officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force, including Dallas police officers, were serving a capital murder warrant at the location. The warrant was connected to a homicide in the 9700 block of Forest Lane on Oct. 16, officials said.
Sources told WFAA that officers were trying to enter a home to serve the warrant when a suspect opened fire on officers. The officers returned fire, shooting one suspect, 20-year-old Jordan Owens, the sources said.
One officer, Sr. Cpl. Edgar Morales, was shot in the leg during the incident and taken to Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, the sources said.
March 14, 2024
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said this incident started at about 12:45 a.m. March 14. Officers were working "in a covert capacity" when they said they saw a vehicle driving erratically in the 3200 block of Easter Avenue.
Police decided to follow the vehicle when they said one the suspects shot at officers who were in an unmarked car. Garcia said the suspect, 17-year-old Jaheart Nickelberry, crested a hill and U-turned and fired five times at the unmarked police car. The injured officer was shot in his hip after a bullet went through the vehicle's driver side door.
Video of the incident shows the suspect vehicle drive past the police vehicle and shots can be heard. Dash cam footage also shows the ensuing chase, and Nickelberry can be seen running out of the car with a gun in hand.
Nickelberry has been charged with two additional aggravated robberies Garcia said occurred previously, including one in Dallas hours before the shooting and another incident in Glenn Heights in Ellis County involving a home invasion and an officer-involved shooting where one of the suspects was killed. Garcia said Nickelberry was the suspected driver in the case.
Garcia said a second gun was found near I-20 and West Wheatland Road after it was thrown out of the suspect vehicle's window during the chase.
Police continued going after the suspect vehicle and eventually arrested five people in the 7200 block of Chesterfield Drive.
None of the officers fired their weapons, according to officials.
June 28, 2024
A man was shot and killed on June 28 by Dallas police after holding a woman hostage in tent with a knife and moving toward officers with the knife in hand, DPD said.
Dallas police said the shooting happened after officers responded at approximately 6:45 p.m. Friday to the area of 5850 Beltline Road for a disturbance. Police said officers determined a man had committed aggravated assault – family violence with a knife. Officers found the suspect, along with a woman inside a tent in a wooded area, according to DPD.
The man was holding the knife and officers told the man to drop it, according to DPD. The woman was able to get out of the tent, police said, and the suspect moved toward the officers with the knife in hand and officers fired their weapons.
The man was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he died, police said. The woman was also taken to the hospital for treatment and she was not seriously injured, according to DPD.
July 4, 2024
Officers responded to an illegal game room at about 1 a.m. July 4 to reports of a robbery in progress at an illegal gaming room in the 2900 block of South Lancaster Road, Garcia said.
Surveillance video shows the suspect, 34-year-old Timothy Jefferson, and three other suspects round up people at gunpoint and force them inside the gaming room. Garcia said at least one person was pistol-whipped.
Jefferson stayed outside as the other three robbed the gaming room and people inside, Garcia said. A responding officer working undercover, Snr. Cpl. Ruben Martinez, responded to the scene. Surveillance footage shows him pull up outside and Jefferson point a handgun at him. After the two briefly point their guns at each other, Jefferson drops his as he approaches Martinez. Martinez tries to grab Jefferson to stop him from fleeing, and sees Jefferson appear to reach for his gun on the ground. Martinez then shoots Jefferson multiple times.
Because Martinez was undercover, he was not wearing his vest and body camera at the time, and did not have time to put them on before the altercation with Jefferson started. Garcia said Martinez put both on after he shot Jefferson.
July 25, 2024
Officers shot one person in a vehicle that'd been reported stolen after the driver rammed into two squad cars at a North Dallas area apartment complex on July 25 and two others were taken into custody, police said.
Undercover officers began tracking the stolen vehicle to the apartment complex in the 9600 block of Golf Lakes Trail off Walnut Hill Lane and U.S. 75 shortly before 1:30 p.m. that day, police said.
The officers found the vehicle in a carport at the apartment complex with four people inside and called for uniformed officers, Garcia said.
When the driver of the vehicle saw the squad car, they accelerated and rammed into two marked squad cars, police say. WFAA helicopter footage showed a GMC truck in front of a crashed police cruiser at the scene.
Uniformed officers fired shorts and hit a man, who was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive, Garcia said. Two other suspects were taken into custody at the scene, and one who was injured was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, police say.
Aug. 29, 2024
At about 10:10 p.m., DPD said officers responded to an "officer in distress" call in the 900 block of East Ledbetter Drive, police said. When the responding officers arrived at the scene, they found a suspect near a squad car belonging to a male Dallas officer who'd been shot, according to police.
The two officers exchanged gunfire with a male suspect at the scene, and both officers were struck, DPD said. All three officers shot on Thursday night were with the South Central Patrol Division, sources said.
In the wake of those initial shootings, a chase ensued with law enforcement pursuing the suspect as he traveled north from Dallas along I-35E. During that pursuit, the Lewisville Police Department was called in to assist in the chase. According to an email obtained by WFAA from the Lewisville Police Chief to his staff, the suspect was chased by police to Lewisville and was then fatally shot in the 1000 block of Stemmons Freeway.
According to a DPD news release, the suspect allegedly got out of his vehicle in Lewisville with what police described as a "long gun," at which point he was shot by Dallas police officers. The suspect died at the scene, DPD said.