During a news conference on Friday evening, the Dallas chief of police referred to the shooting that occurred on Thursday night while the officer was sitting in his squad car as a “execution”.
Following their response to the scene, two more cops were shot by the police, who then shot and killed the alleged gunman, according to the authorities.
“Our officers were targeted for nothing more than the uniform they wear and for the brave and honorable job that they do,” Edgardo Garcia, the chief of police in Dallas, stated to the press on Friday.
When the suspect approached Dallas Officer Darron Burks, he was in his squad car in the community center parking lot between calls at approximately 10:04 p.m. CT on Thursday, according to Garcia.
Garcia claimed that the suspect, who was named on Friday as 30-year-old Corey Cobb-Bey, conversed with Burks for a short while through the driver’s side window while filming the exchange on a cellphone.
With tears in his eyes, Garcia stated, “The suspect then took out a handgun and executed Officer Burks as he sat in his vehicle.” Then, according to Garcia, a police dispatcher sent officers to check on Burks after noticing a “unusual transmission” from his radio.
According to Garcia, in the meanwhile, Cobb-Bey took a shotgun from his car, which he had parked in the lot two minutes before Burks arrived, and set the weapon on the squad car’s roof.
Cobb-Bey “immediately” shot a firearm, according to Garcia, when Senior Corporal Jamie Farmer, another officer, arrived on the scene and parked into the parking lot at around 10:11 p.m. CT. When Cobb-Bey reached for the shotgun on top of the squad car and fired at Officer Farmer, hitting him, Garcia claimed, Farmer returned fire and fled across the parking lot.
Around 10:12 p.m. CT, Senior Corporal Karissa David, a third officer, showed there and parked her squad car at the lot’s entrance, according to Garcia. “Shot at her multiple times as she exited her vehicle,” according to Garcia, Cobb-Bey ran toward her.
Garcia claimed that although David returned fire, Cobb-Bey shot him in the face.
Cobb-Bey left the area, but not before a police sergeant noticed him standing close to his car and ordered the next patrol to pursue him, according to Garcia. Cobb-Bey was pursued by Dallas police officers along Interstate 35E and into Lewisville, according to authorities. After a while, Cobb-Bey pulled over and, according to Garcia, stepped out of the car to confront the cops while pointing the shotgun at them.
Cobb-Bey was struck several times by bullets fired by six police officers, according to Garcia. At the scene, he passed away. Police stated they had recovered a 9mm and a.22 caliber handgun.
According to authorities, the three injured officers were sent to nearby hospitals. According to Garcia, Burks passed away at the hospital from his wounds.
“Officer Darron Burks was a son, a nephew, a friend of many, and he was senselessly and tragically murdered in the line of duty,” Garcia stated.
According to Garcia, David is still in the hospital and her health is severe but stable. She also has a “long road to recovery.” According to Garcia, Farmer, who was shot in the leg, has already been released.
According to Garcia, Cobb-Bey obtained the firearms lawfully, and there is currently no proof that he and Burks were acquainted.
Three days before the incident, Cobb-Bey captured himself on camera approaching an unmarked squad car belonging to an unidentified law enforcement organization. He then “questioned the officers about why they were parked there,” Garcia said, according to the investigation’s findings.
Cobb-Bey, according to the chief, “made a post indicating an event was happening on Friday” on Thursday and “expressed problems with his personal and professional life online.”
“The investigation determined last night was premeditated, again for no other reason than the uniform we wear, that my men and women proudly wear, and for the brave and honorable job our men and women do each day,” Garcia said. “It was brave and honorable work done last night from our dispatcher who knew something wasn’t right while listening to a radio transmission.”
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Cobb-Bey was a member of the Moorish Sovereign Citizens, according to Garcia’s evidence. As an outgrowth of the antigovernment sovereign citizens movement, the movement is “a collection of independent organizations and individuals that emerged in the early 1990s,” and according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, its adherents “have engaged in violent confrontations with law enforcement.”
In the midst of the investigation, Garcia continued, they are “scouring” the suspect’s social media accounts.
Mayor of Dallas Eric Johnson referred to the event as “devastating” and honored Burks as a “hero.”
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