Shots fired at Dallas police squad car, officer hurt

DALLAS - Dallas police are asking for tips to track down whoever fired at two officers on I-30 Thursday morning.

The officers were traveling eastbound on I-30 near I-45 around 2 a.m. when their squad car was sprayed with bullets.  One of the bullets tore through a window, causing shards of glass to cut an officer in the face.

“This was a deliberate attack upon our officers,” said DPD Exec. Asst. Chief David Pughes. “And it was an attack such that we were very lucky that neither one of our officers were hurt or killed.”

The officers went straight to the hospital for help. Other officers came to help look for the shooters.

Dallas Police Association President Michael Mata was on duty at the time and posted pictures of the damage shortly after.

Mata says the officer in the passenger seat had cuts to his face and neck from the broken glass.

“He told me he really didn't even realize what it was at first until he touched his face and obviously felt the blood and saw the blood,” Mata said.

The shooting happening in the same week a man took a hammer to a dozen squad cars at the central substation in Old East Dallas and just hours after Richardson Police Officer David Sherrard was killed.

“You're that much more aware when something like that had just happened in Richardson and two of our officers are also fired upon,” Pughes said. “It's a difficult thing to understand what's happening out there.”

Dallas police recovered four nine-millimeter shell casings at the scene. Detectives are checking businesses for surveillance and looking at TxDOT cameras. They're also talking to construction workers and others in the area at the time to track down the shooter.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Dallas Police Department.