Dallas police release video of deadly shootout with suspect
DALLAS - Dallas police released body camera video on Wednesday of a deadly shootout with a man they said fired shots at officers as they approached him.
What happens right before two officers fired 15 shots is hard to make out. But the video clearly depicts the chaos in the moments after shots were fired.
It happened around 6 p.m. last Sunday after someone called 911 to report a fight between a man with a gun and another person just southeast of Fair Park.
"There was an argument going on between individuals with one person with a gun," said Kristin Lowman, Dallas Police's Assistant Director of Public Information.
When Dallas officers Zachary Wohlwend and Thomas Hartmann got to the location near Scyene Road and Fitzhugh Avenue, police say 61-year-old Donathy Doddy was arguing with another man and pulled a handgun.
Video shows the officers waving at people around Doddy to move away. Police say they saw a gun in his pocket.
One of the officers recognized Doddy from a previous arrest in August when he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He bonded out of jail on Aug. 2.
Officers called Doddy by name, but he didn’t respond.
Moments later, Chief Eddie Garcia says Doddy charged at the officers and fired at least two rounds in their direction. Two of the three officers on scene returned fire, striking Doddy.
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At a press conference Wednesday, Chief Garcia says those two officers fired 15 rounds combined. One officer fired four shots and the other 11. The chief wouldn’t say how many times Doddy was struck.
"They had a good angle at the time. There's not really any other way for them to have approached at that time," he said. "The individual then charged at them. Unfortunately, the individual did dictate this outcome."
Another man was hit by a stray bullet in the leg.
Garcia says it’s unclear who fired that shot, although he says the victim believed it came from Doddy's gun. An officer tried to assist him.
The chief commended at least one witness from the crowd who helped police provide medical assistance to Doddy. He also defended the decision by his officers to handcuff Doddy before performing CPR.
"For an individual who charged and shots at officers, yes, absolutely," he said.
Doddy was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he later died.
Garcia said a witness picked up Doddy's gun and put it in his car for safekeeping from the large, surrounding crowd. The gun was recovered. It had six bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber.
None of the officers was injured.
"I commend our officers for handling a very traumatic and chaotic scene," Garcia said.
This is the eighth officer-involved shooting in Dallas.
The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is conducting its own investigation into the shooting.
The man who was shot in the leg is expected to be okay.