An 18-year-old man was killed and two other people were wounded Saturday night in a shooting at a park in South Dallas, police say.
Patrol officers responded about 7:30 p.m. to the Juanita Craft Recreation Center Park in the 3000 block of Lyons Street, where three people had been shot.
Cerriante Dimoren Green was pronounced dead at the location.
“I just want someone to be angry like I am," Green's sister Jamesia Newhouse said.
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The two other people who were shot were hospitalized in stable condition, police said. Their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
“I’m hurt, I’m mad as hell, I’m not a revenge person but I’m a justice person," said Green's great aunt, Patricia Winfield. "My heart is heavy behind what all this crap is doing to our young Black men."
Police said Sunday that there were no suspects identified or in custody and the motive and circumstances around the shooting were under investigation.
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For community activists Tabitha Wheeler-Reagan and Antong Lucky, it's yet another reminder of the importance of community involvement when it comes to violence prevention.
“I saw a mother crying, I see children involved in violence and we are fighting every day to improve our communities," Wheeler-Reagan said.
Lucky also believes the recent events demand immediate action from the neighborhood, including calling the police when they see something they know could lead to violence.
“We are asking whether you are an uncle, an aunt, or a friend, or mentor -- or if you are just a resident in the neighborhood to get involved," Lucky said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Derek Chaney at 214-283-4804 or email derick.chaney@dallascityhall.com.
In total two people were killed and six were wounded in shootings around Dallas on Saturday and Sunday.
Early Saturday, 30-year-old Lexia Lafon Kimberling was fatally shot at a Super 7 Inn. Her boyfriend, Santiago V. Dominguez, was arrested and charged with murder.
At 8:15 p.m., a 27-year-old man was shot in the chest while attempting to break up a fight in the 3600 block of West Davis Street. He was hospitalized in stable condition.
Shortly before midnight, a 58-year-old man was walking down the 4100 block of South Westmoreland when he was approached by someone who demanded property and shot the victim in the shoulder during a struggle, police said. He was hospitalized with injuries not thought to be life-threatening
And around 3 a.m., a man who had been shot multiple times was brought to an urgent care facility, and later transported to a trauma hospital. Police have not provided an update to his condition.
Later Sunday morning, at 9 a.m., a man was critically shot during a disturbance with another person at Holmes Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Saturday night's fatal shooting at the South Dallas park was at least the 63rd recorded homicide in the city this year, a marked increase over the number of homicides reported to date in 2020, the deadliest year in more than a decade.
The Dallas Police Department's citywide crime statistics report, which was last updated April 15, showed a 22.5% increase in murder and non-negligent manslaughter compared to the same time last year.
Department records show 252 reports of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2020.
Though homicide numbers continue to tick up, other statistics from the department indicate that as a whole, violent crime year-to-date is down 4.9%.
Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who started in the job in February, told NBC 5 at the time that the homicide rate is important, but that aggravated assaults are the true indication of a city's violence.
Department data show that aggravated assaults are up 10%, and robberies and forcible sex offenses are down, 31.7% and 14.6% respectively.
"Every major city in the country has seen a surge in violent crime, we just need to ensure we have the right people at the table with us to come up with a plan to reduce that," Garcia said in February. "We have the pieces, we just need to put together. It starts with ensuring our officers known building strong community relationships ... and taking the criminal element off of our streets are not mutually exclusive."
