Man shot, killed by DeSoto police Monday was wielding homemade weapon, police say
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The Dallas ISD employee shot and killed by a DeSoto police officer Monday morning was wielding a “homemade edged weapon, similar to a knife,” police in Grand Prairie said in a Wednesday news release.
Grand Prairie police, investigating the shooting as an independent, outside agency, said Michael Christopher Nunez, 47, “lunged” at the officer with the weapon and the officer, fearing for their life, shot him.
The officer’s identity has not been released. Police said he has been placed on administrative leave, per department policy.
The shooting happened as DeSoto police were responding to a 911 call about a suspected burglary around 11:40 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of Polk Street, according to police. Authorities from Grand Prairie said officers and paramedics both tried to perform life-saving first aid after the shooting but were unsuccessful. Nunez was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, police in DeSoto said Nunez was a teacher at Moises E. Molina High School in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.
A Dallas school district spokesperson said Nunez was a special education teacher who worked with students who needed extra help in specific subjects. He worked for the district from June 2003 to October 2020, then left the district until he returned to work at Molina High School in August 2022. During his first 17 years with the district, Nunez worked at a different campus.
The spokesperson said that, according to the principal of Molina High School, the general consensus on campus was a reaction of shock because the events police described seemed so out of character for Nunez.
When a resident of the home called 911, they told police a man had entered the residence with an “unknown item,” DeSoto police said Tuesday. When they arrived, officers found Nunez outside the home armed with the homemade knife-like object.
The Grand Prairie Police Department’s Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Team and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division were contacted by DeSoto police to conduct the investigation involving the officer.
This story was originally published March 29, 2023 at 7:33 PM.