Dallas police continue to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred in the early hours of September 24, 2023, in the 1800 block of Barnes Bridge Road and the 2000 block of Barnes Bridge Road. This marks the tenth such incident involving a Dallas police officer this year.
The incident began on September 22, 2023, when covert officers from the Northeast division were on a routine patrol and noticed a silver Cadillac SUV with a paper tag not associated with the vehicle. Upon attempting to initiate a traffic stop, the driver evaded officers, and no pursuit was undertaken.
Two days later, on September 24, 2023, at approximately 12:30 a.m., covert officers spotted the same silver Cadillac SUV, this time with a different unauthorized paper tag, while it was heading westbound on Garland Road near Peavy Road. The covert officers followed the vehicle to the 1800 block of Barnes Bridge Road and requested the presence of uniformed officers.
Officers Francis Vela and Oscar Macias responded to the scene. Upon arrival, they encountered the suspect, later identified as 55-year-old Michael Shirley, outside the stolen SUV. The officers issued verbal commands to Shirley to stop and show his hands, but Shirley brandished a handgun from a shoulder holster.
Officer Vela discharged her weapon in response, prompting Shirley to return fire. Officer Vela continued to fire, and Senior Corporal Andrew Pease, another covert officer at the scene, also discharged his weapon at Shirley. Shirley then fled the scene in the stolen vehicle, driving northbound on El Capitan into a nearby apartment complex.
Shirley maneuvered through the complex and reemerged eastbound onto Barnes Bridge Road, where he collided with a curb and flipped the stolen SUV in the 2000 block of Barnes Bridge Road. Officers Pease and Reiniger, who were equipped with heavy vests bearing police markings and patrol rifles, approached the suspect vehicle from the east.
Simultaneously, Officers Vela and Macias approached from the west, and Shirley opened fire on them once again. Officers Pease and Reiniger took cover behind a parked vehicle and returned fire, striking Shirley. A drone was deployed, capturing the suspect on the ground with his firearm nearby.
Officers approached with shields and took Shirley into custody, administering first aid until Dallas Fire-Rescue arrived. Shirley succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The drone footage revealed a female occupant still inside the vehicle, who was unharmed. She explained that she had voluntarily entered the suspect's vehicle but was later forcibly restrained to a seatbelt in the second row. She is not considered a suspect and faces no charges.
During the incident, one Dallas Police Department vehicle was struck twice by gunfire, once in the driver's side window and once in the driver's side front fender. An unrelated vehicle on Barnes Bridge Road was also hit by gunfire. No officers sustained injuries from the suspect's rounds.
Michael Shirley faced charges including four counts of Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant and one count of Kidnapping. All charges will be cleared by exceptional arrest.
