4 Dallas officers hospitalized after being struck by car while responding to shooting

By Michael Williams and Zaeem Shaikh

A man was arrested after four Dallas police officers responding to a shooting call were struck by a car and hospitalized early Thursday, according to authorities.

Police responded shortly after 3 a.m. to the 3100 block of Community Drive, northwest of Dallas Love Field Airport, where they found a man shot in the leg. The suspected shooter, 22-year-old Angel Morales, was inside a home and refused to come out.

Police said he tried to escape from a window but was arrested at the scene on an aggravated assault charge. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

During the investigation, officers were set up on a perimeter around the scene. While police were investigating, an “uninvolved driver” hit a marked Dallas police car with one officer inside.

Police said the driver, 45-year-old Christopher Ramirez, drove through the scene perimeter, then around Dallas Fire-Rescue equipment and hit a marked patrol vehicle.

The crash caused an officer sitting in the front of the patrol car to be thrown from it, police said. The police car then struck three other officers, police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said.

All four officers were taken to a hospital in stable condition and later released. Ramirez stayed at the scene and is facing four counts of aggravated assault charges and four counts of passing an authorizing emergency vehicle, police said.

Police said there is no current belief that Ramirez was impaired at the time of the crash. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.