Police said no children, staff or police were injured.
At about 8:45 a.m., police received phone calls from a gunman who had shot at the stadium, a town facility at 1700 S. Main St., Duncanville police said in a live-action press conference.
The summer camp at the stadium, an indoor sports and gym, has a daily attendance of about 250 children aged 4-14. The campers were locked in rooms after initial reports of gunfire and later evacuated from the building, authorities said.
Police arrived at the stadium about two minutes after being called, entered the building, found the armed suspect and confronted him, police said in a morning press conference. The gunman was shot by police during an exchange of gunfire and later died at a hospital, police said.
In another press conference Monday afternoon, police said the man entered the building through the lobby’s main doors and fired first after exchanging words with a staff member. Police have not commented on whether the man and staff member knew each other or what was said between them.
Camp counselors attended their training and transported the children to safe areas and began locking the doors, police said. The suspect fired a shot outside a locked classroom in the room, where children were present but were not injured, police said.
The suspect then went to the high school, but did not shoot until police arrived, police said. The children fled the area before police confronted the suspect at the gym and exchanged gunfire with him, killing him, according to a police statement.
Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect and on Monday afternoon referred questions about him to the Texas Rangers, citing the ongoing investigation. Police said earlier that it was not clear if the man was targeting anyone on the farm, or what led to the incident, Star-Telegram media associate WFAA-TV reported.
Camp counselor Naomi Rodgers told KXAS-TV that she was working with a group of about 40 children when they heard the first shot.
“We had to move them all across the room because the building is glass and we had to find a safe place,” Rodgers told KXAS. “The shooter came to our door and said, ‘If we did not let him see who he wanted to see, he would shoot.’
A gunman was shot dead by police at the Duncanville Fieldhouse on Monday morning when about 150 children were on their way to a summer camp, according to Duncanville police. WFAA-TV
Duncanville Mayor Barry Gordon told the WFAA that police responded within two minutes and that within 10 minutes they shot and killed the suspect.
The officers recently underwent active sniper training, the mayor said.
“Our officers did not hesitate,” Gordon told the WFAA. “They did what they were trained to do and saved lives.”
Tomisha Johnson, whose daughter is a staff member at the day camp, told KDFW-TV that camp counselors heard gunshots and immediately helped the children take refuge elsewhere in the building.
“As a parent, this is the worst call you want to hear, especially where your child is,” Johnson told KDFW. “It simply came to our notice then. We hear as many active shots as we do every day. It is ridiculous. I do not know what will happen to stop this. “But all our babies were trying to do was have fun.”
The shooting came less than three weeks after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
“Obviously we understand what happened south of us,” Duncanville Assistant Police Chief Matthew Stogner told an afternoon news conference. “I can only talk about how we responded here and did a great job.”
Police said the farm was cleared Monday morning and parents could pick up the children at the Duncanville Recreation Center at 201 James Collins Blvd.
Michael Strickland, whose grandchildren were in the summer camp, told the WFAA he saw the news of the Facebook shootings and rushed to the stadium.
“This world we live in now is unpredictable,” Strickland said. “There are two forces, good and bad. It clearly shows which side this incident is on. “
Duncanville is located in southern Dallas County, about 30 miles east of Fort Worth.
Police blocked a black SUV in the parking lot of the field with a crime film and searched the vehicle, video from the scene shows.
This story was originally published on June 13, 2022 at 11:27 a.m.
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David Silva Ramirez is a Star-Telegram multimedia news reporter. He grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and is passionate about government coverage, education, local communities and exciting features. You can contact David at [email protected] or on Twitter @ByDavidSilvaR.
