Officers say a traffic stop escalated into gunfire less than two hours after a woman was shot in Dallas.
MESQUITE, Texas — Dallas police fatally shot a man suspected in a deadly Dallas shooting after a surveillance team tried to stop his vehicle near Town East Mall late Saturday morning, authorities said. The suspect got out armed, officers fired, and he died at the scene. No officers were hurt.
Police said the confrontation capped a fast-moving search that began after a woman was shot around midmorning in northeast Dallas and later died at a hospital. Detectives identified a suspect and tracked a vehicle to the mall area along the east service road of Interstate 635. As officers attempted a high-risk stop around 11:45 a.m., the encounter turned violent. The department said an “armed confrontation” followed, ending with the suspect struck by gunfire. His name had not been released by Saturday evening. Mesquite police assisted at the scene while Dallas police said its special investigations unit would review the shooting, standard in such cases.
According to Dallas police, the day began with a shooting call at about 10:15 a.m. in the 9000 block of Markville Drive in the Lake Highlands area. Officers found a woman wounded; she was taken by Dallas Fire-Rescue to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Investigators said the shooter fled. By late morning, a surveillance detail from the department’s Northeast Division located the suspect in Mesquite, just outside the crowded Town East Mall during the holiday rush. Executive Assistant Chief Jesse Reyes said the man exited a vehicle armed when officers tried to stop him. “Our officers were confronted by an armed suspect,” Reyes said, adding that the initial homicide and the mall-area shooting were connected by the ongoing investigation.
Witnesses described a sudden burst of sirens and shouting near the frontage road as patrol units boxed in a car and officers took positions with weapons drawn. Shoppers who had been walking to lunch said they ducked behind vehicles when orders to “get back” rang out. Police said the suspect pointed or displayed a weapon before officers opened fire. Officials did not immediately say how many officers fired, how many rounds were discharged, or what kind of firearm the suspect carried. A black sedan sat with its doors open as crime scene tape sealed off a patch of grass along the service road early Saturday afternoon while detectives marked evidence and canvassed nearby businesses for security video.
City officials said the investigation remained in its early stages, with homicide detectives handling the woman’s killing and the special investigations unit reviewing officers’ use of force. Mesquite police, who first described the stop as “high-risk,” said their agency would assist but that Dallas would lead. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the suspect’s identity and cause of death. Officials did not release the woman’s name pending notification of family. Police also did not say whether the suspect and victim knew each other, citing the active case. Detectives planned to examine ballistic evidence from both scenes and compare timelines, vehicle movements, and phone records to establish the sequence of events.
The shooting outside the busy mall drew a heavy response during one of the highest-traffic shopping weekends of the year. Families leaving the food court met detours and officers directing drivers away from the east service road. Employees at several storefronts said managers briefly locked doors before reopening. Saturday’s episode comes amid a wider departmental push to deploy surveillance and license plate recognition near hot spots along LBJ Freeway, according to prior briefings, and follows other recent officer-involved shootings that prompted standard reviews and calls for restraint during crowded events. Officials emphasized that no bystanders were reported injured.
Police said body-worn camera footage would be preserved and later reviewed, and any available video from nearby businesses would be collected. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative leave. Investigators will submit their findings to the Dallas County district attorney for review once evidence is processed. If additional suspects, charges, or connections emerge from the initial homicide case, police said updates will be released. As of Saturday night, no public briefing time had been announced. The medical examiner’s confirmations typically take at least a day, and the department often releases preliminary narratives within 72 hours, followed by more detailed reports.
Drivers were asked to avoid the frontage lanes near the mall as the crime scene remained active for several hours. “We heard four or five pops and then it was quiet,” said Jordan Ellis, who was heading to lunch nearby. “People were yelling to get down, and then the officers moved in.” Another shopper, Denise Alvarez, said she called her family to tell them she was safe and then waited inside a store until officers waved people out. By late afternoon, most traffic had resumed on LBJ Freeway as tow trucks cleared vehicles and evidence teams finished their grid search along the grass.
As of Saturday evening, police said the homicide investigation that began in Dallas and the fatal shooting in Mesquite remained active, with the suspect’s identity pending and the woman’s next of kin still being notified. Officials said the next update would come after evidence is processed and preliminary interviews are complete.
Author note: Last updated December 21, 2025.