Dallas police release video of officer-involved shootout with murder suspect
DALLAS - Dallas police released video of last week’s shootout between officers and a murder suspect.
The shooting happened on the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 14 outside a gas station on Scyene Road.
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Dallas police say the suspect who they say fatally shot a man Thursday afternoon before shooting an officer is now in custody.
Dash camera video shows Dallas police officers Derek Williams and Christopher Mazin driving on Scyene Road in South Dallas when they spot a man, later identified as 45-year-old Juan Vicente Zavala Lopez shooting into a pick-up truck.
The officers circle around and confront Zavala Lopez.
"Get out of the car, get out of the car," the officers yell before gunshots are heard.
The officers return fire, then get back into their squad car and give chase, radioing for back-up.
Williams and Mazin drive southbound on Second Avenue in pursuit of Zavala Lopez, when he suddenly makes a U-Turn and heads towards the officers who got out of their car.
"He's coming back," you can hear them say in the video.
Zavala Lopez and Officer Williams exchange gunfire as the suspect drives past.
Dallas police slowed down Williams' body camera video to show the encounter.
Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia described what the moment shows.
"He let go of the steering wheel as he encountered my officers. He was using a two-handed technique to shoot out of the car," he said.
Police say Officer Williams was hit by the suspect's gunfire on his right side in his ballistic vest.
"I'm hit! I'm hit in my vest," Williams can be heard saying.
Zavala-Lopez then speeds off.
Court documents say officers went to Zavala Lopez's home and found a pay stub from a construction company.
Detectives called the suspect's boss, who revealed Zavala Lopez already called him and told him he was shot by Dallas police officers.
Chief Garcia wouldn't elaborate on what exactly led officers to a home in Lewisville later that day, only saying the suspect wsa familiar with the area.
Warning: Video contains explicit language
SWAT officers searching a barn on the property find Zavala-Lopez injured and slumped over in a horse stall.
"Our SWAT team located Zavala Lopez in a horse stall on the property. SWAT used 40mm less-lethal projectile to get the suspect into custody," Chief Garcia said. "SWAT gave repeated orders to the suspect to show his hands, but he failed to comply with the orders. Zavala Lopez had a 9mm handgun in his hands when he was taken into custody and a second magazine was also found."
Zavala Lopez was treated for a gunshot wound to his leg. Police believe he was shot by one of the officers during the initial shootout with police.
He was treated at the hospital before being booked into jail Friday.
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The victim in the initial shooting was 60-year-old Ruperto Mondragon Salgado.
Chief Garcia says Salgado and Zavala Lopez knew each other.
"We believe they were roommates there was some sort of domestic-type issue that was brewing," he said.
According to an arrest affidavit FOX 4 obtained Monday, Zavala Lopez fatally shot his roommate in a parking lot off Scyene Road.
Video from a witness shows the moment police say Zavala Lopez fired three times into a white truck, killing Salgado in the passenger seat.
The male driver in the blue shirt and a woman in the white truck were not injured.
If you look closely you can see in the cell phone video the patrol car with Williams and his partner passed as Zavala Lopez started shooting.
Chief Garcia says Zavala Lopez, who is on an immigration hold, has a lengthy criminal history and has been deported at least nine times.
"Here I am describing another incident where a suspect armed with a firearm shot at our officers for the seventh time this year. And yet again we’re lucky to have our officers alive today," the chief said.
Garcia says Zavala Lopez has previous felony convictions of possession of a controlled substance and, in fact, sheriff's deputies say they found meth on him after this incident.
He remains there on numerous felony charges, including murder.
This is the ninth shooting involving a Dallas police officer in 2023.
Chief Garcia said it will be reviewed by a special investigations unit and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.