No arrests in Oak Lawn shootout that narrowly missed toddler
DALLAS - There is very clear video but still no arrests from a gun battle on a Dallas street that sent bullets flying into a home.
A 3-year-old girl was nearly struck during the shootout early Sunday that her family's surveillance camera recorded.
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Residents in the Oak Lawn Heights neighborhood are rattled by what they heard and saw. They say it’s a safe neighborhood with expensive homes being built throughout the area. The men who terrorized the quiet community remain on the loose.
Rodney Johnson didn't find out until later that the loud popping sounds he heard right outside of his bedroom window around 5:30 a.m. Sunday came from a shootout.
“I jumped out of bed and looked. Didn't see anybody, but the noise continued,” he recalled. “I went to my front door to get the paper. That's when the area was surrounded by police officers.”
Johnson lives on Crestview, the street where a neighbor's home surveillance camera first captured the violent exchange. Several bullets lodged in the bedroom of a 3-year-old girl. She was not injured.
The surveillance video shows a Mercury Sable speeding down the street followed by an unidentified car. Two people in the vehicle can be seen shooting back. As they turned right on Parkland Avenue, one of them perched outside the passenger window or through the sunroof as the two guys shielding themselves behind the disabled Mercury returned fire. The two guys at the Mercury then bailed, likely worried about a possible round two. The other guy doubled back.
Seven minutes later, what appeared to be a silver or white four-door Jeep pulled up, turned around and parked on Crestview. It appears the driver's side brake light was out. A few seconds later, the guys run to a getaway Jeep and drive off.
Dallas police detectives spent Monday morning in the neighborhood talking to residents and looking for additional camera footage. One of the guns was found Sunday in a homeowner's backyard. Worried residents are hoping the gun, car and surveillance videos will lead to the arrest of the bad guys.
“We want answers,” said resident Oscar Ramirez, who found a gun in his backyard on Sunday. “Who were they? What were they doing? Why in our area?”
“It scares me. It makes me think twice about walking around,” said resident Lana Olevera. “I'm from Chicago, and I'm used to walking around a lot of places. Here, I guess I'm going to have to be as careful as I am in Chicago.”
Both of Ramirez's vehicles were struck by bullets.
“An innocent child could've died just because of that,” Ramirez said.
The 3-year-old’s baby monitor captured the moment as she was sleeping and bullets flew through her window. Her parents don't feel comfortable releasing the video.
Dallas police say they've checked local hospitals for anyone who may have shown up with a gunshot wound, but have turned up nothing.
Residents plan to meet at a nearby resource center on July 18. They say they’re now buying and installing new security cameras because of the incident.