A mother shot and killed her 8-year-old daughter before taking her own life in an apparent murder-suicide during a SWAT standoff at their home in Dallas, Texas, according to the law enforcement.
The 35-year-old mother barricaded herself and her two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son, in the home shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Monday, May 18, after an argument with her husband. The husband called the police after she opened fire at him but managed to escape from the house located on the 500 block of Highcrest Drive, as reported by Dallas News.
SWAT Standoff
SWAT officers arrived at the scene at about 2 a.m. to negotiate with the woman. Several attempts were made to persuade the woman to release her daughter and surrender but they were unsuccessful. Shortly before 3 a.m., the son was able to leave the home unharmed while the girl remained inside with her mother.
SWAT then tried to enter the house at 6:30 a.m. but were forced to retreat after the woman opened fire and grazed an officer's arm. The officers did not return fire and repositioned themselves outside the home. Not long after, officers heard two additional gunshots from inside the house.
The task force made a second attempt to enter the premises at about 9 a.m. and found the woman and the girl dead in an apparent murder-suicide. According to WFAA, the woman had a history of domestic violence and had been arrested several times. "You know how this ends," she apparently told her husband during the standoff.
Police have not released the names of anyone involved in the case and have offered no further details about what led to the standoff. Child Protective Services is working with police to determine placement for the son.
'A Tragic Situation'
"They attempted to make a second entry into the location. When they got inside they found the 8-year-old and the black female suspect. She'd shot herself and her 8-year-old daughter" Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall said in a press conference on Monday. "A tragic situation. Violence, family violence, that is really overtaking our community."
She added that the city needs to do a better job of preventing crime, especially amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country. "We are fighting a pandemic," she said. "We are trying to stay alive, but then we kill each other. It's absurd. ... And I want the community to be more outraged about that."
