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Dallas PD’s remarkable seven-month streak of not fatally shooting a suspect ended on Monday afternoon, when multiple officers gunned down a man outside Southwest Center Mall.
Police say that Michael Mayo, 30, led them on a chase through the Red Bird area that ended in the mall parking lot. There, he engaged with a standoff with police, getting in and out of the car, first with a gun to his head then, finally, with his weapon pointed at police.
Mayo’s death seems unlikely to prompt the type of criticism and hand-wringing that has followed some recent shootings. He was armed, for one thing, and multiple witnesses saw him point the gun at police.
“He kept getting out of the car,” a bystander told The Dallas Morning News.. “The last time, he got out and pointed his gun at them, and that was it.”
In this case at least, it also doesn’t seem like Dallas Police Chief David Brown’s recent crackdown on officers he says pulled the trigger too quickly caused any undue hesitation, as some had feared.
For his part, Mayo’s flight seems to have been motivated by a felony warrant for a probation violation, apparently from a 2009 burglary conviction. According to a police statement, officers were led to Mayo at about 1:30 p.m. by the scent of marijuana wafting from his car, which was in in a motel parking lot in the 3300 block of Marvin D. Love Freeway.
A check of the plates returned the warrant along with an alert that the car’s occupants might be armed and dangerous. The officers who spotted the car called for backup, at which point Mayo took off, his female passenger (Fox 4 identified her as a girlfriend) jumping from the car .
He led a phalanx of squad cars on a half-hour chase that ended at Southwest Center Mall. Police say officers attempted to convince Mayo to surrender, but they fired when he pointed the gun in their direction.
Mayo’s last Facebook message was posted at 12:24 p.m. on Monday, shortly before police showed up. “Ready for whatever,” he wrote.
Send your story tips to the author, Eric Nicholson.
