The street cruising scene along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in South Dallas ended in gunfire on Sunday.
Many neighbors near the busy thoroughfare say they have grown frustrated over the large crowds and noise. Now they are getting fed up with the gunfire and fear that someone could be seriously injured or killed.
“This is weekly,” said neighbor Virginia Watkins. “This is every Sunday."
Families near MLK Boulevard compare the Sunday night cruising scene to an impromptu car show. Flashy vehicles travel from Rochester Park and parade before a crowd of illegally-parked and boisterous spectators lining the boulevard between Fair Park and Interstate 45.
Frustrated neighbors from the South Dallas-Park Row Historic Neighborhood began calling 911 about disturbances just after 6 p.m. on Sunday. Some claim no police were visible in the area until after shots rang out around 8:40.
Prior to the gunfire, residents called to complain about cars spinning, burning rubber, driving through red lights, illegal parking, open alcohol and other violations.
"Cars just lit up... just everywhere," Watkins said. "All over the place."
She lives one street away from MLK Boulevard. Watkins said the scene this Sunday got more chaotic as shots from the crowd spilled into the adjoining neighborhoods.
"My little nephew got shot,” Watkins said. “They say the dudes chased him down.”
This is not the first time cruising on the same street ended in gunfire. Spectators and neighbors ran, ducking for cover, when dozens of bullets were fired into the air during an altercation on Easter Sunday. Video of that chaotic scene went viral on social media.
Neighbors claim Dallas police are failing to devote adequate resources and attention to the Sunday street cruising scene.
Assistant Chief Paul Stokes heads up the Dallas Police Department’s Southeast Patrol. "We do have bike officers, and we have officers on motorcycle, the traffic officers, that assisted us yesterday," he said.
Stokes said he knows cruising is a weekly issue on MLK Boulevard, and that cracking down on the problem could be more effective if more neighbors helped out. "We really want the community to step up and help us -- either through networking, through church, community groups -- to say, 'Look, this is our neighborhood; we don't want the cruising on Martin Luther King.'"
Neighbors said they are not satisfied with the police department’s current strategy.
“Our neighbors pay taxes that help fund the police department. We expect a better response,” said Tammy Johnson, president of the South Boulevard-Park Row Historic Neighborhood Association.
Virginia Watkins and her family also expect something more to be done to control the crowd cruising along the busy street. She said she wants police to help keep the neighborhoods near MLK Boulevard safe.
"I want them to just stop all this violence,” Watkins said.