Crime

Dallas police release bodycam footage of suspect who shot officer responding to homicide

A body camera screenshot showing a white truck blurring by as a police officer raises his gun
Juan Vicente Zavala Lopez, 45, faces charges of murder and aggravated assault after fatally shooting a man, injuring an officer and leading Dallas police on a chase Thursday, police said as they released video of the incident. Courtesy of Dallas Police Department

Dallas police have released the body-camera footage showing an officer shot by a fleeing murder suspect Thursday.

Officers Derek Williams and Christopher Mazin were called to the 4800 block of Scyene Road around 1:25 p.m. Thursday and found 45-year-old Juan Vicente Zavala Lopez shooting into a vehicle, according to a police statement.

Zavala Lopez fled the scene in a white pickup truck and the officers pursued him to the 4800 block of Second Avenue. Zavala Lopez then turned around the truck and began firing at officers as he sped past, police said.

Officer Williams was hit in bullet-proof vest, and was later treated at an area hospital before being released.

Police tracked Zavala Lopez to a barn in the 2300 block of South Valley Parkway in Lewisville, where he was arrested by a Dallas police SWAT team.

One of the victims of the shooting at Scyene Road, Ruperto Mondragon Salgado, died at the scene, according to Dallas police. A second unnamed man who was with Salgado was unharmed, according to police.

Zavala Lopez has been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting on Scyene Road and four counts or aggravated assault on a peace officer, Deputy Chief Terrence Rhodes said in a video statement.

Detectives determined the initial shooting between the suspect and the victim was not random and they knew each other.

Thursday afternoon’s incident was the ninth shooting involving a Dallas police officer in 2023.

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Harrison Mantas
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Harrison Mantas has covered Fort Worth city government, agencies and people since September 2021. He likes to live tweet city hall meetings, and help his fellow Fort Worthians figure out what’s going on.
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