Legal consequences uncertain after Grand Prairie police shoot man at wrong house

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Following an incident where officers responded to the wrong address and shot a resident, the Grand Prairie Police Department faces potential legal fallout.

Grand Prairie PD shooting response

The latest:

The district attorney's office has a policy to respond to all officer-involved shootings in Dallas County.

It will be up to Dallas County prosecutors whether to bring evidence forward to a grand jury to decide if a crime occurred.

FOX 4 spoke to a former county prosecutor who said the body camera footage will play a critical role in figuring out how this all unfolded.

Grand Prairie police are asking the Dallas County DA's office to consider charges after a homeowner walked out armed when officers showed up at his house by mistake. 

Grand Prairie police shoot resident

The backstory:

It all started Friday around 1:45 a.m. Grand Prairie police responded to a call for an active disturbance.

Officers knocked on the door of a home on Holly Hills Drive for five minutes. Then, police say, the homeowner opened the garage armed with a gun.

Police say the man pointed the gun at officers, then the officers fired their weapons and hit him in the leg. 

What they're saying:

Russell Wilson, a former Dallas County prosecutor, spoke Saturday about the possible legal ramifications of the shooting.

"So remember, Texas has very, very strong self-defense laws, and those protect residents in their home," said Wilson. 

In addition to the resident's rights, another factor that will make this case more difficult is that Grand Prairie police were at the wrong address. The department says the original 911 caller's address showed up incorrectly on the dispatch system, and they went to Thomas Simpson's house instead.

Simpson told FOX 4 officers never announced themselves, and he thought they were criminals at first.

"They never say police department! But I recognized from the light the sign off the badge when the garage door got to a certain point. And that's why I dropped my pistol.  And okay, let's figure this out. And then I get shot." 

Simpson says officers fired eight shots, which he believes is excessive.  

Wilson expects the DA's office to present the case to a grand jury, who will decide if a crime happened. The officers’ response will be part of the discussion.

"Certainly want to understand what officers believe they were coming to when they engaged at this location, so that, I think, would also be part of the overall analysis," said Wilson.

Possible charges for resident

The other side:

Grand Prairie police are asking the district attorney's office to consider indicting Simpson on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer. 

Wilson says the homeowner's right will come into play.

"But as it stands now, it seems like the was the officer shooting, not necessarily the homeowner who was lawfully armed and in the place where they're in a lawful right to be. So that's going to be a challenge, I think, from a prosecutorial perspective, to find criminal conduct there," Wilson said. 

And the officer's body camera footage could also be a factor.

"How the facts and circumstances unfolded immediately prior to the shooting. who shot and from what location and what was their ability to see," Wilson said. "I think that the assessment of the body camera would be critical in the case."

What's next:

Wilson says it could take several weeks for the DA's office to investigate the incident and for the grand jury to return a decision.

Simpson said he plans to file his own lawsuit, which would be decided in the civil courts. 

Grand PrairieCrime and Public Safety