DALLAS (AP) _ The Latest on the shooting of two police officers and an employee of a home improvement store in Dallas (all times local):
12:55 p.m.
Authorities have filed a capital murder charge against a 29-year-old man who investigators say shot a store employee and two Dallas police officers, mortally wounding one.
Armando Luis Juarez was charged with capital murder Wednesday after officer Rogelio Santander died at a hospital. Juarez, who is being held at the Dallas County jail on a bond in excess of $1 million, is facing multiple charges that include aggravated assault on a public servant.
Authorities say Santander and officer Crystal Almeida were called Tuesday afternoon to a Home Depot store to deal with a suspected shoplifter.
An arrest warrant accuses Juarez of pulling a handgun as he was being detained. He shot the officers and a store loss-prevention officer, Scott Painter. Almeida and Painter are in critical condition Wednesday.
___
11:25 a.m.
The Dallas police chief says her force is broken hearted following the death of
one of two officers shot at a home improvement store.
Chief U. Renee Hall announced the death of officer Rogelio Santander at a news
conference Wednesday, saying “this is going to be a trying time for us.”
Hall says Crystal Almeida is recovering. Almeida is the second officer who was
shot at Home Depot store in north Dallas Tuesday afternoon.
A store loss-prevention officer, whom Hall identified as Scott Painter, also
was shot. Hall says the two are in critical condition “but we are optimistic
about what we are seeing with them right now.”
Police arrested the suspected gunman, 29-year-old Armando Luis Juarez, late
Tuesday. He is facing charges that include aggravated assault on a public
servant.
___
10:30 a.m.
The mayor of Dallas says a police officer has died a day after a shooting that also wounded another officer and a home improvement store employee.
Mayor Mike Rawlings announced at a city council meeting Wednesday that officer Rogelio Santander succumbed to his wounds at a Dallas hospital. Santander had been with the police force for three years.
Another officer, Crystal Almeida, is in critical condition, as is a loss-prevention officer for Home Depot who also was shot Tuesday.
Authorities have identified the suspected gunman as 29-year-old Armando Juarez, who was apprehended hours later following a police chase.
Juarez is being held at the Dallas County jail on a bond in excess of $1 million. The charges against him include aggravated assault on a public servant.
___
8:25 a.m.
Relatives of a man accused of shooting and critically wounding two Dallas police officers and a Home Depot employee say they can’t believe he would be involved in such violence.
Ruben Juarez, the father of suspected gunman Armando Juarez, told The Dallas Morning News, “there’s no way … (he) could’ve done this,” and that he doesn’t think his son even owns a gun.
Armando Juarez’s grandmother, Janie Longoria, told reporters Tuesday that her grandson is a “sweet, lovable person,” but that his friends are a bad influence.
The 29-year-old Juarez was apprehended following the shooting and a police chase Tuesday. He is charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant.
He was arrested in January after authorities say he was found in a stolen vehicle. He also pleaded guilty to a drug-possession charge.
___
7:10 a.m.
Authorities say two Dallas police officers are in critical condition, with one described as “gravely ill,” a day after they were shot while trying to remove a man from a home improvement store.
Police officials said in a statement that a Home Depot employee is also in critical condition following the Tuesday afternoon shooting.
Officers Crystal Almeida and Rogelio Santander, both three-year veterans of the force, remain hospitalized Wednesday in Dallas. Dallas police Sgt. Michael Mata told KDFW-TV that Santander is “gravely, gravely ill.” He says Almeida is “severely injured” but “fighting hard.”
Mata says “it’s going to be a tough day today.”
Authorities say suspect Armando Juarez will be charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant in the shooting. He was apprehended following a police chase late Tuesday.
___
11:45 p.m.
Authorities say two Dallas police officers were escorting a man from a home improvement store when he shot them and a store employee.
The shooting occurred Tuesday at a Home Depot in northern Dallas. Police Chief U. Renee Hall says the two officers and the store loss-prevention officer underwent surgery for their injuries.
She did not provide further details but asked for continued prayers for their recovery.
Police have arrested 29-year-old Armando Luis Juarez on charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and felony theft. He was taken into custody following a car chase hours after the afternoon shooting.
The two police officers were called to the store to help an off-duty officer with removing the man from the store.