Dallas officers shot outside Home Depot
2 officers, civilian hurt at Home Depot; suspect arrested
Two Dallas police officers are critically wounded in a shooting outside a Home Depot store. The suspect later is captured after a 5-hour manhunt.
DALLAS — A five-hour manhunt for the gunman who shot two Dallas police officers and a Home Depot loss-prevention officer Tuesday ended with an arrest following a high-speed chase through the city.
Authorities arrested Armando Luis Juarez, 29, who faces multiple charges of aggravated assault on a police officer in the shootings at the Lake Highlands store.
He was taken into custody after the chase, which started in southeast Dallas after someone spotted the truck he’d been seen in fleeing the Home Depot. The pursuit ended near Love Field about 9:15 p.m., and a woman with Juarez also was taken into custody. Her name has not been released.
“I want to thank our Dallas police tonight,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawling said late Tuesday. “They’ve taken a punch and they’ve come out fighting.”
Juarez originally had been described as a person of interest in the shootings, which occurred about 4:15 p.m.
An off-duty police officer working at the Home Depot near U.S. 75 and Forest Lane had called for assistance after detaining a man, Dallas police Chief U. Renee Hall said.
When police arrived, the detained man “produced a handgun” and shot the responding officers and a store loss-prevention officer, police said. The off-duty officer was not wounded.
The three victims were taken to Texas Health Presbyterian of Dallas, where they underwent surgery Tuesday night. Officials declined to release their names or detail their injuries.
Although officials refused to discuss the officers’ conditions, their tone was mournful as they urged the public to pray for the victims and their families.
“Once again, Dallas is at the precipice, looking into the hell of heartbreak as our police department was attacked this afternoon,” Rawlings said at the news conference.
He said he understood and appreciated why the police chief was “being conservative” releasing information. For now, the focus should be on the welfare of the victims’ families.
“The difficulty at the moment is trying to process the emotions of dealing with the officers who were injured while also trying to locate the shooter,” Rawlings said. “We’re praying for them, but there is still the work to be done.”
Council member Adam McGough, who represents the area, said he is praying for the officers and their families.
“It’s just more reminder of what a dangerous job they have,” he said.
Juarez’s father, Ruben, said Tuesday night that he didn’t believe his son was responsible for gunning down three people.
“There’s no way my son could’ve done this,” he said.
However, he said police had gone to Juarez’s mother’s house to look for his son and showed her surveillance video of him shooting officers in the face.
Juarez’s grandmother, Janie Longoria, spoke to reporters outside her Dallas home Tuesday night and said she couldn’t believe what she was hearing about her grandson.
“He’s a very sweet, sweet, lovable person,” she said. “He doesn’t carry a gun. He doesn’t have a gun.”
Court records show Juarez was arrested in January on a charge of unlawful use of a motor vehicle after officers found him in a stolen truck, records show.
He also was arrested in December on a theft charge. He also has pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a controlled substance.