Freeway Shootout in Dallas Kills 3

[celeb_2006]

Freeway Shootout in Dallas Kills 3



Two police officers responding to what they thought was a wreck on a downtown freeway early Sunday were caught in a shootout that killed three people and wounded a patrolman, authorities said.

Witnesses told investigators they stopped to help a motorist on the side of Interstate 35 when someone inside the car shot at them, prompting them to retrieve a gun from their own car and return fire before the officers arrived, authorities said.

That's when officers spotted two people lying on the side of the road and stopped to help, unaware of the shootout, police said. As one officer aided a person on the ground, his partner, Senior Cpl. Jerry Poston, was shot by someone from inside a nearby car.

"We do not know who shot who," Dallas police spokesman Vernon Hale said in a statement. The officers said they did not shoot anyone, Hale said.

Poston, a 17-year veteran of the department, was hospitalized at Methodist Central in serious condition, police said. His family asked that no information about him be released, said Lynette Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Poston's partner was not identified.

The suspect who shot Poston was among the three killed, investigators said. It was unclear whether the suspect killed himself or someone else shot him.

Police said they do not know the condition of a second person wounded in the shootout.

Detectives have recovered a shotgun from the scene, police said.

[crumpet]

See, this is sad because it makes people less likely to help someone in need, even though most people would not harm someone really trying to help them.