Dallas police are expected to give an update on the deadly police-involved shooting near Fair Park from Sunday night at 1 p.m. The presser will appear in the player above.
An eyewitness is sharing her perspective in the moments leading up to a deadly Dallas police shooting that happened Sunday night in South Dallas.
Two Dallas police officers fired on a man who police say was shooting at them. That man died and another bystander was injured.
Even 48 hours later, Maria Sandoval admitted it is not easy to recount what she saw from inside the restaurant where she works as the general manager.
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“It’s just a very scary situation to have, to have that happen within a couple of feet from you,” Sandoval said.
Sandoval said she and her five employees at a Domino’s Pizza watched as Dallas police officers responded to a parking lot at Metropolitan Avenue and Robert B. Cullum near Fair Park, unaware that someone had already called 911 about a man with a gun who was threatening others.
Sandoval says she could see the suspect with a gun in his hand. What happened next took just a few seconds.
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“We didn’t think it was going to escalate to that point, so we just kept watching. And that’s just when the shots started firing and we hear that one bullet go through our glass and we just all ducked down,” Sandoval said. “I told all my employees and just crawled to the back in case any more bullets were coming towards us.”
Dallas police said Donathy Doddy, 61, fired toward officers and was then shot several times and died a short time later. Two Dallas officers who fired their weapons are on paid administrative leave which is standard after an officer-involved shooting.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia is expected to release body-worn camera footage from the shooting on Wednesday.
In the big picture, Sandoval says large gatherings in that parking lot have been a persistent problem for months.
The parking lot was full late Tuesday afternoon with dozens of vehicles and people standing outside.
Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua represents South Dallas and told NBC 5 he is aware of the issue and said the city needs to work with code enforcement and community prosecution to have more aggressive measures taken.
“I think they need to fence it up and not let anybody in there because we all know things are happening there that shouldn’t be happening,” Sandoval said.
