Dallas store customer fatally shoots suspected burglar who was fighting with employees, police say

The shooter told police he saw another man fighting with store employees and shot him because he was concerned for their safety. The shooter was arrested for murder.

DALLAS — Police say they’ve arrested a North Texas man who shot and killed another man who was suspected of stealing from a Family Dollar store in Dallas and getting into an altercation with two female employees. 

Kevin Jackson, 47, faces a murder charge in the case, officials said.

The Dallas Police Department in a news release said officers responded to a shooting call at approximately 7:27 p.m. on Nov. 29 at the Family Dollar store located at 3200 S. Lancaster Road. 

When officers got to the scene, they found a man lying in front of the store with a gunshot wound. He died at the scene, police said. His name has not been released.

Police said a fight happened when the man was confronted by store employees over items he was allegedly trying to steal. 

An affidavit obtained by WFAA said the assistant store manager recognized the man as someone who “frequently stole items from the store” and became suspicious he was shoplifting. The assistant store manager asked the victim to leave the store and return the stolen items she believed he was concealing, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, the man denied stealing anything and tried to leave the store, but the assistant store manager took his backpack until police were able to arrive for the alleged theft. The man briefly left the store, but came back inside and started cursing at the assistant store manager and began hitting her, the affidavit said. 

Then, another female store employee saw the altercation and intervened by spraying the man with mace, according to the affidavit.

Another customer, identified as Jackson, witnessed the fight between the man and the female store employees, pulled out his firearm and shot the man. The man stumbled outside the store and collapsed, where he later died. The affidavit said Jackson picked up his fired cartridge casing and placed his gun in his vehicle while he waited for police to arrive.

Police took Jackson to department headquarters for questioning, where he told police he saw the fight and became concerned for the safety of the two women working at the store. Jackson denied ever seeing the man with a weapon, and police said the man was not found with any weapons in his possession at the time of the incident. 

Surveillance footage showed the man striking the assistant manager and her fighting back with a stick, the affidavit said. The man was running toward the door and was being hit by both female employees immediately before he was shot, according to the affidavit. 

Jackson was arrested, charged with murder and taken to Lew Sterrett jail, police said.

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