A Dallas Police Officer Shot and Killed an 18-Year-Old Man Suspected of Stabbing His Parents

Categories: Crime

cop_shooting_espanola.jpg
Sky Chadde
When an officer arrived at the red-brick house, he met a teenager holding two knives, police said.
Around 10:30 this morning, Dallas police received a call about a "cutter" on Espanola Drive near Dallas Love Field. Soon after, 8-year-veteran Kevin Gladden arrived at a red-brick house with a basketball hoop in the front driveway, according to police.

Eighteen-year-old Jose Manuel Gonzalez had a knife in each hand. An oblong pool of blood was on the front porch.

Gonzalez had already cut his mom, dad and grandma, who had hightailed it for the next door neighbor's house, police said. Neighbor Cynthia Valdez, whom the police would later interview, had heard the police sirens and went outside to investigate. A few houses down and across the street, she later told Unfair Park she saw an officer with his gun drawn and the younger brother coming toward him, his hands behind his back. She couldn't see any weapons.

Gladden shouted at Gonzalez to drop the knives he was carrying, according to police. Instead, the young man continued to approach the officer, making him retreat closer and closer to Valdez's house. When the officer was almost in her front yard, she hurried inside. Then she heard the gunshot.

"The suspect refused to drop the knives," Deputy Chief Gil Garza told reporters later at the scene, "and the officer shot the suspect."

Stepping outside again, Valdez said she saw Gonzalez on the ground, his arms outstretched. Another officer kicked away two knives from the young man's hands, Valdez said. Then, Gonzalez tried to get up, making a guttural sound, Valdez said. The officer tased him.

The officer "tased the suspect because he remained combative," Garza said.

Gonzalez's mom, dad and grandma were taken to local hospitals, Garza said. Police expect them to be OK. Police said Gonzalez was in critical condition at the scene and was pronounced dead after an ambulance took him to a hospital. It was the second time in less than 24 hours that an officer has shot a suspect.

The family has a daughter, about 5 or 6 years old, who was in school at the time of the incident, Valdez said. The suspect's older brother had gone to pick her up, she added. According to Valdez, an officer told her that Gonzalez's mother said he suffered a head injury about a year ago that might have caused him to attack his family.

The neighborhood the Valdezes live in is a close-knit community, Valdez said, even if that house had been trouble of late. "We look after each other," she said.

Send your story ideas to the author, Sky Chadde.


Advertisement

My Voice Nation Help
20 comments
hottymic1
hottymic1

Has anyone noticed that cops shooting civilians has increased?  They are not shooting to mane, they are shooting to kill.  That way the suspects side of the story can't be heard and they will find a way to justify the shooting so the family can't claim wrongful death.  Its a win win for the city.  Bad news for us civilians.  Advice, stay away from the police, they are on seek and destroy instead of being a PEACE officer who serves and protects!!

paulpsycho78
paulpsycho78

coming away from the commentary I read on here and hear on right wing faux radio..police can do no wrong & having the highest rate of incarceration in the entire world is clearly not enough..time to follow the fuehrers lead and gas all the blacks, mexicans, and poor whites who offend the ruling elites in this country. amirite?

lawsuth
lawsuth

Better a moron than either a tool or douche.

In fact, I can think of the police response to the Woolwich (England) street slaying last year. They'd been ridiculously slow, but upon arriving had shot the perpetrators (in reaction to their approaches) and merely wounded them. Now, they'll be available to serve some time for their crimes.

noblefurrtexas
noblefurrtexas

I'm highly suspicious of many police shootings, but this one sounds very legitimate.  This is a suspect who has already assault family members with two knives, and is certainly willing to do that to someone else. 


The suspect was walking toward the police with two knives held behind his back, and no doubt refusing orders to stop, drop the knives, and get on the ground. 


The officer was justified in shooting the suspect for both self-defense and the defense of others. 


I think a Taser would have been a better first move, but there are risks to that when a suspect is armed and intent upon harm to others. Apparently, the officer didn't want to accept those risks.

oakclifftownie
oakclifftownie

If any of you are interested the Dallas Police has a ride along program  perhaps getting an up close view of all of the wonderful people they deal with every day  will help you make a better Judgement of how things happen on the streets .


TexasOnePercenter
TexasOnePercenter

So he shot first and THEN tazed him? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around in the escalation of force handbook?

Guest
Guest

I'm confused.  Was there an "18-year-old man" wielding knives and a separate "younger brother" who got shot?  Are these two separate individuals?  This is not clear to me from the narrative.

LKM16
LKM16

Whoever writes this blog is a piece of shit. The officer was not only protecting himself from a clearly violent sadistic man armed with two weapons, but protecting the whole community. Shame on you for trying to point fingers at law enforcement for doing their job well.

jimmyd3
jimmyd3

@lawsuth dude. really? no one is trained to "shoot to wound" i'm ex-miltary and a retired LEO. your'e kind of a moron.

noblefurrtexas
noblefurrtexas

@LKM16 There's a byline on the story which is at the top just under the headline.  That's who wrote the story. 


You're welcome to criticize the story or the writing, but personal insults calling the author a POS are not welcome. 


I disagree with you that the Sky Chadde editorialized a personal opinion or tilted the story to be anti-cop.  It was a fair story. 


We have many cop shootings that are not justified, and a long list of officers in Dallas who have lied about the circumstances of the shooting.  But, in this case, I can't see why it wasn't justified. 


If you're man enough to shoot somebody, you'd better be man enough to be scrupulously honest about it, and accept responsibility - good or bad.

RTGolden1
RTGolden1 topcommenter

@LKM16 Are we reading the same blog entry?  From all appearances, every witness or quote the writer included here is supportive of the officer being justified in the shooting.  The witness accounts for the suspect's advance on the officer, the removal of the knives after the suspect was down, she accounts for the officer's warnings.

It appears all the reporter did was gather information and report it.  Surprisingly well done for an Unfair Park piece.

TedJr
TedJr

@LKM16 You can believe what you like, but had this mentally ill young man had this same episode in any other civilized society, he'd have had a single immobilizing gunshot wound instead of the signature US militarized two to the chest and one to the head.

Voot
Voot

@TedJr @LKM16 The only place I know to place a single immobilizing gunshot is in the hind brain, aka medulla oblongata, which sort of defeats the purpose I think you had in mind.


Where does your TV tell you to place your single immobilizing gunshot wound? Remember, it must be single, and it must be immobilizing. The rest of the class is waiting on your answer.

noblefurrtexas
noblefurrtexas

@Voot Legs - which slow or stop a suspect, and the shots are aimed low, avoiding collateral damage.  With modern weapons and ammunition, however, higher shots in the torso are generally deadly, and shooting at the arms risks straightforward shots that easily miss and could harm others.

Most people shot in the legs by a 9 mm slug are going to be stopped.   And, it's not a bad thing to do with people threatening with knives or even axes.  However, guns are an entirely different matter. 



Now Trending

Dallas Concert Tickets

From the Vault

 

General

Loading...