Police say officers found the 18-year-old suspect near the Pleasant Grove shooting scene after recovering 15 shell casings.
DALLAS — An 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged after a dog walker was shot four times during a late-night encounter in Dallas’ Pleasant Grove area, according to police.
Dallas police identified the suspect as David Gabriel Ramirez and said he faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charge is an allegation and has not been proven in court. Police said the victim remained hospitalized after the shooting, while the dog he had been walking was taken to Dallas Animal Services.
Officers responded at 10:48 p.m. Monday to the 1900 block of North Prairie Creek Road after receiving a report of a shooting. They found a man who had been wounded in the leg. Investigators said the man had been walking his dog when someone he did not know approached him and confronted him.
Police said the person who approached the victim made a threatening statement and displayed a handgun. When the victim tried to get away, the gunman fired multiple times. Investigators said the victim was struck four times before the shooter fled. Officers later recovered 15 shell casings from the scene.
Investigators described the attack as apparently unprovoked and said the victim did not know the person who confronted him. Authorities have not released the victim’s identity or provided a detailed account of his medical condition beyond saying he remained at a hospital.
According to an arrest report cited in the investigation, officers who were establishing a crime scene noticed Ramirez walking nearby and sweating heavily. Police said he also matched the description of the suspected shooter. Those observations became part of the investigation that led to his arrest.
Witnesses told investigators that Ramirez had been drinking before the shooting and had become hostile toward people at a home on McGregor Street, according to the arrest report. Witnesses said they had taken a handgun away from him because they were concerned about his behavior. They later returned it after he came back and threatened to damage windows at the home, the report said. Those accounts remain allegations.
The shooting occurred near W.W. Samuell High School. Police were seen canvassing the area and gathering evidence after the gunfire. A nearby resident told reporters that he heard an initial series of shots followed by additional gunfire and then looked outside.
Ramirez was booked into the Dallas County Jail, and no bond had been set when police provided the latest information. Authorities have not publicly announced a motive, and the investigation remains active.
Author note: Last updated September 2, 2026.