MESQUITE (WBAP/KLIF News ) – The Mesquite Police Department on Tuesday released body camera footage and the 911 calls from the officer-involved shooting at a local academy earlier this month.
Officers responded to the Pioneer Technology and Art Academy on February 19, after a school administrator said 16-year-old student brought a gun on campus.
In the 911 call, the school’s assistant principal is heard pleading for police to get to the school as quickly as possible.
“I am the assistant principal…a student just pulled a gun…I need someone here now…I am with him …he’s fine…I am calming him down. I need you to get someone here now,” she said.
Mesquite Police Lieutenant Brandon Rickets said officers arrived at the school within two minutes and were told that the student, who has not been identified due to his age, was in the office sitting on a couch with a handgun at his feet.
The department said they negotiated with the student for almost four and a half minutes while trying to deescalate the tense situation and end the event peacefully.
An officer is head saying in the bodycam footage: “Can you talk to us? We would like to help you. That’s why we are here. Please do not reach for that gun.”
The video and CCTV footage shows the student reaching for the handgun, which lead an officer to open fire.
The video shows the student standing and pointing the gun at the officers. The video then shows three officers to fire their weapons.
Mesquite police said officers fired 19 shots and hit the student in the leg. The student did not fire a shot.
The suspect stayed inside the officer, before eventually coming out. The teen was then taken into custody, taken to the hospital and released later that day.
Lieutenant Ricketts said investigators found the student’s Rossi .38 special firearm and learned of his true intent that day.
“Subsequent interviews with witnesses revealed that the suspect came to the school with intentions of harming others,” he said.
The suspect is charged with several counts of aggravated assault against a public servant as well as exhibition of a firearm.
Although the identities of the officers have not been released, the department said they were a five-year veteran, an eight-year veteran and a recent transfer who came from another agency.
The department’s internal affairs unit’s investigation will determine if the officers were justified in the shooting and whether they followed policy.
After a subsequent investigation, the case will be turned over to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office for review.
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