Man throwing rocks shot by police at Dallas airport, authorities say

Reporting from Dallas —  A police officer shot and wounded a man Friday outside a Dallas airport after the man attacked a woman believed to be the mother of his children and then threatened the officer with a large rock, police said.

“There doesn’t appear to be any other weapon present than the rock,” Dallas police Assistant Chief Randall Blakenbaker said.

Video posted by Instagram user @flashyfilms and credited to Bryan Armstrong shows the commotion on the curb outside the baggage claim area at Dallas Love Field. Amid the sound of nine gunshots and an officer’s shouts to “get down,” some people scramble while others stand watching before officers order them back inside. Toward the end of the video, one officer is seen pointing his gun at someone near the glass exterior of the airport.

Asked why the officer fired so many rounds at a man holding a rock, Blankenbaker said only that he did not know how many shots were fired. “We have to conduct an investigation over those types of speculation.”

×

Some airport operations were temporarily disrupted, but it remained open. Spokesman Jose Torres said that some passengers after hearing shots ran through the security checkpoint, so everyone had to be rescreened. Officials warned that delays could last several hours.

“There were some folks in the security line who were startled, so they went through the security line without being checked. So the airport has had to pull everybody back out of the secure area and recheck them for security purposes,” Blankenbaker said.

The man, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital. Torres said he was not critically wounded. Blankenbaker said the man was conscious while being transported to the hospital.

Traveler Lucinda Fonseca told WFAA-TV that she and her husband were coming out of the baggage claim area when they saw police approaching the man throwing rocks and one of the officers drew a gun.

“The man was yelling at the cops, basically saying, ‘Shoot me shoot me, I dare you,’ something to that effect,” Fonseca said, adding that she then heard gunfire.

“I crouched down on the ground,” she said. “I didn’t know where the bullets were going.”

Blankenbaker said it appeared that the man had used a large rock from nearby landscaping to smash the windshield and driver’s side window of a car. Blankenbaker said no children were present during the disturbance and the woman wasn’t injured.

The officer, the lone law enforcement person involved in the incident, would be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, as per department policy, Blankenbaker said.

Southwest Airlines, the dominant airline at Love Field, said in a statement that vehicular traffic at the airport was being routed around the investigation scene. The airline advised that travelers remain flexible in their plans They said they were working with air traffic controllers nationwide to manage disrupted flight schedules.

ALSO

3 dead after plane crashes into car near Houston airport

Georgia police officer responds to wrong house and shoots owner

Here are 9 things you should know about the Stanford sex assault case

UPDATES:

2:27 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional details.

12:12 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional details.

This article was originally published at 11:33 a.m.