Dallas police officer fatally shot, 2 more wounded in Oak Cliff Thursday night: officials
.jpeg "Dallas police officer Darron Burks was killed Thursday night after a suspect, Corey Cobb-Bey, 30, shot him on East Ledbetter Drive. Two other officers were injured.")
A Dallas police officer was killed and two more officers were wounded in a shooting in Oak Cliff on Thursday night, officials said. The suspect is also dead.
The officer killed in action was identified as Darron Burks, 46, Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia said Friday in a news conference.
“As a department and as a family, we are devastated … we lost a brother, a hero,” said Garcia.
At around 10 p.m. Thursday, the suspect — identified by police as 30-year-old Corey Cobb-Bey — parked a white Buick in a parking lot in the 900 block of East Ledbetter Drive. Shortly after, Burks arrived in a squad car and parked at the front of a building.
Cobb-Bey got out of his vehicle, spoke with Burks briefly, and recorded the encounter with a cellphone before he pulled out a handgun and shot Burks in his vehicle, Garcia said.
After shooting Burks, Cobb-Bey grabbed a shotgun from the Buick and placed it on top of Burks’ squad car, according to Garcia.
Dallas police received an “officer in distress” call when a dispatcher noticed an unusual transmission from Burks’ radio, Garcia said. The dispatcher attempted to contact him, but Burks did not respond, according to the investigation.
Senior Cpl. Jamie Farmer, the first officer to respond to the scene, located Burks and Cobb-Bey immediately fired at him upon arrival, Garcia said at the news conference. Farmer returned fire and Cobb-Bey grabbed the shotgun he had placed on Burks’ patrol vehicle, firing another time at the officer. Farmer was hit once in the leg.
Another officer who responded, Senior Cpl. Karissa David, was shot multiple times by Cobb-Bey as she got out of her vehicle. She returned fire and was shot in the face during the exchange.
All three officers were taken to hospitals; Burks died of his injuries there. Farmer was released from the hospital Friday. David remains in critical but stable condition, Garcia said.
The suspect fled the scene after shooting the three officers and Dallas police pursued him to Lewisville. The pursuit ended in the 1000 block of Stemmons Freeway, where Cobb-Bey got out of his vehicle holding a shotgun, the investigation found.
Cobb-Bey approached the responding officers and pointed the shotgun at them, Garcia said. Six Dallas police officers all fired their weapons, hitting Cobb-Bey multiple times. The suspect died at the scene and no officers were injured in this exchange of gunfire, Garcia said in the update.
Lewisville police officers also responded to the scene. No Lewisville officers fired their weapons, according to the Lewisville police chief.
At the initial scene, three handguns used by the suspect were recovered. At the scene in Lewisville, two shotguns were found, according to Garcia.
Burks was a rookie police officer who left his job as a math teacher and a coach at a high school to join the Dallas Police Department, according to WFAA. He had just gotten off training for the night before being shot, police told WFAA.
Dallas police chief Eddie Garcia posted, “No words,” on X early Friday. “Our officers were targeted by a coward,” Garcia said at the news conference.
Dallas police detectives discovered that Cobb-Bey had approached an unmarked patrol vehicle of an unknown law enforcement agency three days ago and asked officers why they were parked there. Cobb-Bey had expressed problems with his personal and professional life on social media, Garcia said. A day before shooting Burks, Cobb-Bey took to social media, saying an event would be taking place Friday.
Officers determined Burks’ killing was premeditated, Garcia said.
“Dallas has suffered a great tragedy … as a teacher and a Dallas police officer, [Burks] lived his life in service to others, to all of us. He dedicated himself to giving us a better, smarter world, and a safer city, and last night he made the ultimate sacrifice. … Today we grieve alongside his family and pray for the swift recovery of our two wounded officers. In Dallas, we put safety first and we stand firm against violent criminals,” said Mayor Eric Johnson in a statement read by Interim City Manager Kimberly Tolbert at the conference.
Burks’ death comes after a Fort Worth police officer was killed Aug. 12. Sgt. Billy Randolph was hit by a suspected drunk driver while responding to a fiery car crash on Interstate 35W near Sycamore School Road. He was with the Fort Worth Police Department for about 30 years.
Garcia said body cam and dash cam footage will be released Monday, but police will not be providing surveillance video that captured the shooting.
Detectives continue to monitor Cobb-Bey’s social media, said Garcia. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 7:07 AM.
