Police kill a man who opened fire at summer camp facility

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A man who fired his weapon into Duncanville Fieldhouse was fatally shot by police on Monday.
• The alleged shooter opened fire from outside a training classroom filled with children after he was unable to get in.
• Cops arrived at the indoor facility about two minutes after receiving an emergency call, the Duncanville Police Department said.

A gunman who had opened fire inside a sporting complex in the Dallas area was fatally shot by police. The unidentified shooter appeared to have fired twice in Duncanville Fieldhouse, a sports and training venue for the youth in the city.

The gunman entered through the complex’s main lobby doors. He was then confronted by a staff member who exchanged gunfire with him, Duncanville Police Department Assistant Chief Matt Stogner said at a news conference.

The alleged shooter then went to a classroom filled with children and opened fire from outside after he was unable to get in, the assistant chief said.

The children at the complex were moved into a “safe area” after the first sounds of gunfire were heard. The suspect then moved to the main gym where there were still children present. No additional shots were fired, at least until police arrived and engaged in the firefight that killed him.

Stogner said it appeared the suspect was the only casualty.

Children attending camps at the sports complex were aged 4 to 14, officials said.

In an interview with NBC affiliate, KXAS of Dallas-Fort Worth, camp counselor Naomi Rodgers said she was in the classroom, filled with children ages 4 to 6, when it became a focus of the suspect.

“The shooter actually came to our door,” the 18-year-old said, “and he said if we didn’t let him see who he wanted to see he was going to shoot the place up.”

The suspect shot the classroom door, which is glass, she said.

Stogner praised the officers’ rapid response, thus preventing what could have been another shooting tragedy involving defenseless children.

According to authorities, dispatchers began receiving 911 calls at 8:43 a.m. about a person with a gun at the Duncanville complex. An estimated 250 children were attending camps that day.

Officers arrived in two minutes, entered the building and looked for the armed individual, Duncanville police spokeswoman Michelle Arias told reporters.

Children were cleared from the building and reunited with parents at the nearby Duncanville Recreation Center, authorities said.

Source: NBC News