Dallas police said a police officer and a bystander were shot at an apartment complex late Sunday night by a gunman who later committed suicide.
Police said they were called to the 1100 block of North Prairie Creek Road for a domestic dispute at an apartment complex. Police said several 911 calls reported a man shooting into their apartments.
Dallas police said two responding officers were met with gunfire from a high-powered rifle. Chief David Brown said their police cruiser was struck by at least eight rounds.
Officer Richard Whitt was shot three times in the lower body during the attack. Keenon Furnanace, an innocent bystander who stepped out of a nearby apartment, was also shot.
Police say Kenneth Michael Horton, 31, fired 36 rounds throughout the apartment complex before returning to his car to reload.
Dallas police said Whitt's partner fired a shot at Horton but did not hit him.
Apartment resident Terrance Perkins said he heard shots go off when he was driving on Prairie Creek Road when they were about 10 yards from the entryway.
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"It was about five or six shots go off, and first thing that come to mind I asked my wife and son to get down in the backseat, so just we went ahead and mashed on the gas and went through the light and made a U-turn and came back. We couldn't see anything but the cop car sitting there, and the cop car, has a large hole in the windshield."
Police said Horton went to the complex looking for his former girlfriend after she didn't return his calls. Senior Cpl. Kevin Janse told the Associated Press she was visiting someone there and is cooperating with police.
Investigators said Horton was hiding in a breezeway when Whitt arrived and fired 12 rounds at his squad car.
Officers found Horton dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after a brief search. The medical examiner classified Horton's death as a suicide.
Police said they found an assault rifle, a pistol and 120 rounds of ammunition next to Horton's body.
"The fact that we don't have number of fatalities as the result of someone with that level of anger and someone with that much firepower, we are very fortunate," Deputy Chief Craig Miller said.
Dallas police said Whitt, who was severely injured, had surgery overnight and remained in the hospital Monday. Police said he faces a lengthy recovery, and it's too early to determine when he'll be able to return to duty.
"I am particularly proud of the heroic actions of all the officers at the scene who responded quickly to the original calls from the public and tried diligently to locate the gunman as they worked to protect apartment residents and themselves," Brown said in a statement Monday. "They are all a credit to the department and to the city of Dallas."
Baylor Medical Center said Whitt and Furnanace were both in stable condition Monday night.
NBCDFW's Ellen Goldberg and Susy Solis contributed to this report.
