By Aria Jones, Jamie Landers and Matt Kyle
Three people were wounded in a shooting in downtown Dallas when gunfire erupted Thursday afternoon at a midrise apartment building, police said.
A police spokeswoman said just before 3 p.m. that the three victims were taken to hospitals, but their conditions were unknown. No information about the suspect was available, she said. Residents at the building described hearing the shots.
A Dallas ISD spokesperson said via email Thursday evening that a Dallas ISD student was one of the victims shot in the incident. Dallas ISD said the student is expected to make a full recovery, but did not release any information about the student.
Officers responded about 12:15 p.m. to the 1800 block of Commerce Street, near South St. Paul Street, where residents of the Continental building told The Dallas Morning News they had heard multiple gunshots.
Authorities blocked off streets around the apartments. By about 3:15 p.m., police began allowing residents to access the building. More than 20 police units responded to the shooting, according to an online police call log.
Police at a news conference Thursday afternoon declined to take questions, citing an active investigation. Two Dallas Fire-Rescue units took patients to hospitals, a fire department spokesman said.
The Continental building was constructed in 1948, and in 2013 was redeveloped into more than 200 rental units. The 12-story building is the first in Dallas to feature underground parking.
Shenigua Johnson, who said she is an employee at the Continental, said she saw a “boy” running out of the building as she was walking in. He said “I’m shot” and continued running away, Johnson said.
She went to the eighth floor to check on residents and saw blood and shell casings strewn across the floor and on the elevator.
Candice Haywood, 44, who lives in the building, said she saw a teenager running away. She said he told her he had been shot and that she compressed his wound on his right arm.
“He said ‘call my momma,’” she told The News. A bystander called 911 and an ambulance picked him up, Haywood said.
Dayana Bailey, 54, told The News she has lived at the apartments for nearly three years. Shortly after noon, in her apartment on the eighth floor, Bailey said she heard the shots ring out from a nearby unit. The shots were followed by “the most terrifying screaming and screeching.” Bailey hid in her closet and called 911.
“I needed to secure myself,” she said. “I was shaking so bad.”
When she left her unit, Bailey said she saw blood in the hallway and elevator.
“My lease isn’t supposed to be up until later this year, but let me tell you, it ends today,” Bailey said. “I don’t feel safe anymore.”
Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas, Inc., which acts as a steward and advocate for downtown Dallas, said in a statement that the organization works in conjunction with Dallas PD to ensure downtown remains safe, and that the organization has zero tolerance for violent crime in the city center.
“While preliminary indications are the shooting was an isolated incident, it is no less unacceptable,” Scripps said. “We have zero tolerance for any form of violent crime in the City Center. Over the past 25 years, Downtown Dallas has grown from just a few hundred residents to a thriving neighborhood that more than 15,000 people call home. Our top priority is and always will be the safety of our community. We will continue to advocate for public safety strategies and resources to adequately serve the people of Downtown.”
Scripps also wished the three injured a speedy recovery.
Leslie Johnson, 40, moved into the building about a month ago after living at The Bridge for nearly a year. She’s never felt unsafe living in the apartment building until now, Johnson said.
“Since I been here I’ve felt real safe in the building,” she said. “There are security guards who patrol inside. We get constant updates about broken gates, air conditioning, everything. I believe the apartment complex has our best interest in mind. But I don’t feel safe now. This is making my anxiety real bad.”
Carolyn Brock, 60, who has lived in the building for about six months, said she didn’t know about the shooting until police officers knocked on her door and ordered her to evacuate. Brock said residents have repeatedly expressed concerns about the apartment’s “insufficient” security.
“This is not what I moved downtown for,” she said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, but I’m not surprised. Management was careless and look where it got us.”
Brock said she plans to break her lease as soon as possible. As she stood on Commerce Street and watched officers with rifles strapped to their chests stream in and out of the lobby, her son called to ask if she was OK.
“I’m shaken up,” Brock told him. “I can’t believe this happened.”
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
