DALLAS, June 11, 2016 (UPI) — Hours after gunfire erupted at Dallas’ Love Field and a man was shot by police, authorities released surveillance video footage that reveals the entire incident — from the alleged domestic dispute that started everything, to the officer opening fire on the suspect.
Dallas police said the shooting happened just after noon local time, after an officer responded to a domestic dispute close to the airport’s front curb, near Baggage Claim 3. When the man threatened and charged at the officer, the man was shot, police said.
“He had a rock,” Asst. Police Chief Randall Blankenbaker said of the suspect, who he described only as an African American. Officials said they did not immediately have the suspect’s identification, but they do not believe he had a firearm. “[The officer] was rushed by the gentleman with the rock.”
A video posted to Instagram by witness Bryan Armstrong reveals the sounds of repeated gunfire and someone, presumably an officer, shouting “stay down!” The video also captured travelers’ shocked reactions to the gunfire.
Later Friday, Dallas police released surveillance video footage of the incident, which appears to show two police officers issuing commands to the suspect — who is seen moving toward one of the officers before he is shot and falls to the ground.
“It was terrifying,” witness Lucinda Fonseca told WFAA-TV.
Officials later identified the suspect as Shawn Nicolas Diamond, and said he was hospitalized in stable condition Friday evening. The officers involved weren’t identified.
Dallas police said earlier that the relationship between Diamond, 28, and the female victim is that they have children together. Police said the woman was not hurt, and the children were not present at the airport.
Contrary to some news reports, Love Field was not shut down during the shooting, but officials said the confusion of the incident forced airport security officers to re-screen many travelers.
“During the shooting, there was some folks in the security line who were startled and so they went through the security line without being checked, so the airport has had to pull everybody back out of the secure area and recheck them for security purposes,” Blankenbaker said. “The airport has not been shut down.”
The Dallas field office of the FBI responded to the scene Friday afternoon to aid in the investigation, officials said, and the policeman involved in the shooting will be placed on routine paid administrative leave, per the department’s policy.
Love Field is the secondary airport for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is perhaps best known for being the site of President John F. Kennedy‘s arrival immediately prior to his assassination in Dallas in 1963. After Kennedy’s death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, also along for the campaigning trip, was famously sworn-in as the 36th president while aboard Air Force One on the airport tarmac.
