DALLAS, TX – The gunman suspected of killing four people in a Dallas home led police on a high-speed chase before dying from an apparent suicide. The suspect crashed into a ditch and shot himself in the head when officers approached him on foot, according to law enforcement.
The horrific attack occurred on Sunday afternoon in a southeast Dallas neighborhood. The Dallas Police Department said the killings seemed to be an isolated incident and reassured that “there is no threat to the public.”
The suspect was identified by the police as 21-year-old Byron Carillo. Relatives of the victims told ABC’s affiliate station, WFAA, that Carillo was the former boyfriend of one of the deceased, 20-year-old Vanessa De La Cruz. Carillo was also the father of De La Cruz’s baby, Logan De La Cruz, who was one of the victims.
The attack happened at the residence of De La Cruz’s parents. Carillo was said to have been ordered to wear an ankle monitor following an aggravated assault charge in 2021. “The suspect cut off the ankle monitor at some point, before or immediately after, committing the offense,” stated the police concerning Sunday’s shooting.
Carillo was spotted on Monday driving a stolen car on Interstate 35 in Austin, over 200 miles from Dallas, resulting in a highway patrol chase.
The shooting incident marked the 627th mass shooting this year, as reported by the Gun Violence Archive. Furthermore, 1-year-old Logan De La Cruz’s death is among the 272 killed children, aged 11 or younger, in shootings this year, as per the same source.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found three adults dead from gunshot wounds. Additionally, two children were injured, one of whom, Logan De La Cruz, later died in the hospital. The other victims at the scene were identified by the medical examiner’s office as Karina Lopez, 33, and Jose Lopez, 50.
The motive behind the killings is still under investigation.