Dallas Shooting: Dallas ISD officer wounded in Sam's Club parking lot

DALLAS - A Dallas ISD police officer was shot while trying to help someone near the Walmart and Sam's Club stores in Northwest Dallas on Thursday morning. [Fox 7 Austin]

A Dallas Independent School District officer sustained a serious leg wound Thursday morning after being shot in a retail parking lot in northwest Dallas while assisting someone in distress, authorities said.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. in the shopping center parking area adjacent to the LBJ Freeway near Midway Road, where Walmart and Sam's Club locations are situated. Officer Justin Jones, 39, was flagged down on the freeway by someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Jones removed the individual from the highway to ensure their safety and transported them to the nearby parking lot, according to Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez. It was during this assistance that an unknown individual opened fire on the officer.

Jones, who has served with the Dallas ISD Police Department for 16 years and is assigned to White High School, was transported to Parkland Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. At the time of the incident, he was undergoing surgical treatment. Police officials indicated the officer's condition was serious but that he was expected to survive his injuries.

First responders from multiple agencies converged on the retail complex following the shooting. Photographs from the scene showed numerous patrol vehicles positioned throughout the parking lot and surrounding alleyways, with crime scene tape cordoning off sections containing a police vehicle and visible blood evidence. Officers also conducted searches in neighborhoods adjacent to the shopping center.

Authorities took a possible suspect into custody, though officials have not yet disclosed identifying information about the individual. Police were continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Preliminary information suggested the incident was unrelated to another officer-involved shooting that occurred simultaneously several miles away in a different part of north Dallas, though authorities were still seeking additional details.