Bystander Killed in DART Shooting

Gunman, bystander dead after shooting on train platform

A bystander was killed and two people, including a Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer, were injured in a gun battle at a train station in Richardson. The gunman was later fatally shot in a nearby building.

Officials said a bus passenger shot a DART police officer and two bystanders at the Arapaho Center Station on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the injured bystanders died Tuesday night at a Plano hospital. The DART officer was expected to recover, and the other bystander was seen leaving the hospital Tuesday night.

Richardson police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Perlich said an argument between the passenger and a bus driver over the validity of a bus pass appears to have sparked the shooting.

The driver left the bus and told a DART police officer about the argument while stopped at the Arapaho Center Station shortly before 4 p.m. The passenger got off the bus and headed for the train platform when he saw the driver talking to the officer.

The man then pulled out a gun and started firing when the officer approached him on the platform, and she returned fire.

The officer was struck twice, once in her bulletproof vest and a second time in her shoulder.

It was not immediately clear whose bullets had struck the two bystanders, Perlich said.

Perlich said the gunman fled the train platform and barricaded himself inside a Vent-a-Hood manufacturing facility near the station.

DART police officers followed the man into the warehouse and exchanged gunfire with him.

They found the gunman dead from a gunshot wound to the head, police said. Perlich said it was not yet clear if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound or if an officer shot him.

None of the estimated 100 employees inside the warehouse reported any injuries.

The two bystanders were transported to Medical Center of Plano, where one of the victims died.

The other bystander was released from the hospital Tuesday night. He could be seen limping, and his right arm was in a sling.

DART officers with the victim would not allow him to speak to NBC 5. A DART spokesman said they needed to speak with him first and then referred all questions to Richardson police.

DART reopened the Arapaho Center Station at 1051 N. Greenville Ave. at about 6:20 p.m. Red Line trains were stopping at the station, and a bus bridge between Galatyn Park and Arapaho Center stations was canceled.

NBC 5's Ray Villeda, Ellen Goldberg and Omar Villafranca contributed to this report.

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