An East Dallas family is mourning the loss of a man who was shot and killed while chasing a group of car thieves.
Dallas police say 24-year-old Marco Ramirez was fatally shot near 5300 Parry Avenue around 4 a.m. on Nov. 14. Investigators told NBC 5 that Ramirez was following thieves who had stolen his father’s truck when he was shot.
Hours after the incident, bullet holes marked the front of another truck owned by the victim’s sister, Carla Ramirez. The front of her vehicle was dented in the place where she tried to ram the thieves to stop them from stealing her father’s truck.
In the end, she lost something far more precious.
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“My brother was somebody so caring, so loving, he was never selfish, never selfish,” Ramirez said. “He always looked out for everybody.”
Carla Ramirez told NBC 5 that her family woke up before sunrise to the sound of thieves stealing their father’s truck outside of their home.
“Next thing you know, my first instinct was to get up, I go and get my truck keys, and I go and follow them,” Ramirez said.
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Carla Ramirez said she chased the thieves in her truck, eventually looping back to her family’s home. That’s where Ramirez said she and her brother Marco blocked the suspects with their vehicles. Marco then got out and began shooting at the thieves.
“And I thought we had gotten them, and I was about to get back in my truck so we could go and follow them or do whatever we had to do,” Carla Ramirez said. “And then I just turn around and I see my brother was at the floor.”
Marco Ramirez had been shot. His sister told NBC 5 she could only watch as he lay unresponsive in her arms.
According to police, Ramirez later died at a nearby hospital.
“I’m a single mom, and basically he’s been helping me raise my kids,” Carla Ramirez said. “So it’s hard.”
Dallas police later posted that they had recovered the family’s stolen truck, and are now investigating Ramirez’s death as a homicide.
For the moment, his family waits for Marco’s killer to be taken off the street.
“We definitely want justice,” Carla Ramirez said. “It’s hard for me, and it’s hard for my kids because they’re not going to see their uncle anymore.”
Police are asking anyone who knows anything about this incident to come forward and speak with detectives.
DPD Detective Michael Christian can be contacted at 469-670-4735 or Michael.christian@dallaspolice.gov.
