Two Sachse police officers are home recovering after being injured in an ambush-style shooting overnight Thursday while the person police say targeted them remains hospitalized.
According to the Sachse Police Department, the incident began at about midnight Friday when two officers were wrapping up a call in the parking lot of MedPost Urgent Care on the 7700 block of State Highway 78.
Police said an individual walked up to the driver's side of the police vehicle and fired a shotgun through the window.
The officer sitting in the driver's seat was struck in the head by the shotgun blast, police said.
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According to police, the second officer returned fire, hitting the gunman.
Police said both officers were treated and released from the hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. The gunman, whose identity has not been released and whose condition is not known, was taken into surgery, police said.
"Our officers are doing well as can be expected," Steven Baxter, the assistant chief of police with the Sachse Police Department, told NBC 5 Friday morning.
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According to police, as per department protocol, the Texas Rangers were notified and responded to the scene. The Texas Rangers will be conducting an investigation regarding the incident, police said.
This day could've been a lot different for us here in Sachse
Jeff Bickerstaff, mayor of Sachse
No additional information about the circumstances leading up to the shooting or the gunman's condition was released by late Friday afternoon.
“This day could’ve been a lot different for us here in Sachse,” said Mayor Jeff Bickerstaff. “The good news that I take away from this is, they’re safe and they’re ultimately going to recover. And that is the best news we could have gotten today in this horrible situation.”
NBC 5 also spoke with law enforcement advocates at the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.
“It’s horrible when we learn that someone can be at their workplace, doing this job, and be blindsided with a shotgun, which was an intended murder. There’s no question about that,” said CLEAT Executive Director Charley Wilkison. “You don’t shoot at anything with a shotgun without intending to hit it.”
While Wilkison says he does not know what motivated the shooting, he says it is another example of the increasing dangers law enforcement face across the state.
“I also think there’s a consequence to hate language that’s been turned on law enforcement instead of seeing them as shift workers, professionals, people that are there to protect and serve. There have been [calls to] ‘abolish police.’ So, mission accomplished.”
He says he’s surprised SPD is staffed well enough to allow for two officers in one cruiser given the staffing challenges police departments across the state continue to experience.
