Undercover Arlington police officer shot in Dallas
DALLAS - An undercover Arlington police officer is recovering in the hospital after being shot Thursday morning in Dallas.
It happened just after 6 a.m. in the 2700 block of Wilbur Street, which is a residential street in Oak Cliff.
Lt. Chris Cook with the Arlington Police Department said the officer was part of a federal taskforce called HIDTA, or High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
He would not release specific details about the operation, but a source told FOX 4 the officers were following a tracking device that was on a suspect’s vehicle.
Cook said after the shooting, the injured officer was taken to a nearby gas station on Wheatland and Hampton roads. None of the taskforce officers were from Dallas that may have been the first safe place they saw.
“Any time you’re at an active scene, and that scene was very active even after the shooting, obviously they didn’t want to stay in that area until Dallas PD could get in there and try to secure the scene. So it’s quite possible they came to this location because it is safer until the ambulance could arrive on scene,” he said.
The black pickup truck they were in appears to have at least 20 bullet holes in it. Neighbors described hearing rapid gunfire.
A Dallas police SWAT team took three people who were in a home on Wilbur Street into custody, but it is still not clear if any of them were involved in the shooting.
Maj. Max Geron said a Dallas police special investigation unit will take over the case, which he said is still an “ongoing and dynamic incident.”
The wounded officer was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center for treatment of a bullet wound to his hand. His identity is not being released because of the nature of the operation.
He is expected to be OK.
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson said on Twitter, “I'm at the hospital w/ our officer. He is in good condition & good spirits. We are grateful he will survive and for the @DallasPD response.”
Dallas police still had the street where the incident happened blocked off into Thursday night, with police working to gather evidence. SWAT was also on the scene well into Thursday afternoon.
FOX 4 saw Dallas SWAT officers detain three people from inside the home -- two men and a woman. It's not clear if they were involved in the shooting.
~
FOX 4 is on YouTube -- https://bit.ly/fox4subscribe