A Dallas ISD police officer was gunned down with his own weapon after giving a stranger a ride.
According to an arrest affidavit, as reported, the suspect has been identified as Jose Pantoja-Morales. The incident went down in early August, and the details are absolutely wild.
Here is how it all unfolded. Officer Justin Jones, a 16 year veteran of the Dallas ISD Police Department, received a call around 10:45 a.m. about a man walking along the median of LBJ Highway near Midway Road. That man turned out to be Pantoja-Morales. Jones responded to the scene, and Pantoja-Morales voluntarily climbed into the patrol vehicle. The officer then drove him to a nearby Walmart parking lot.
That is when everything went sideways.
Pantoja-Morales started rummaging through Jones' work bag while still inside the car. Jones pulled over between the Walmart and Sam's Club lots and removed the suspect from the vehicle. He attempted to position Pantoja-Morales facing the car, but the man began resisting. Both of them tumbled to the ground.
During that struggle, Pantoja-Morales managed to grab Jones' firearm. He fired a single round, striking the officer in the femoral artery. That is one of the most dangerous places to take a bullet. The wound was catastrophic.
Pantoja-Morales bolted from the scene on foot. Law enforcement caught up to him in the 400 block of High Summit Drive after a brief pursuit. Once in custody, he reportedly admitted to pulling the trigger so he could get away.
A tourniquet was applied to Jones' leg to control the bleeding, and he was rushed into emergency surgery. Pantoja-Morales now faces charges of aggravated assault on a public servant.
Jones serves as a resource officer at White High School and has been protecting the Dallas ISD community for 16 years. His current condition remains unclear.
Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez released a statement praising the wounded officer. He noted that Jones was simply trying to assist someone who appeared to be in crisis, which is exactly what officers are expected to do. Martinez expressed gratitude to the surgical team at Parkland's trauma center for their lifesaving work.
The response on social media was overwhelming. Supporters flooded Facebook with prayers and well wishes for Officer Jones. Many commenters called for continued support of law enforcement, highlighting the daily dangers officers face on the job.
This whole situation is absolutely infuriating. A cop does the decent thing, picks up a guy wandering along a highway, tries to help him out, and gets shot with his own gun for the trouble. Jones was doing community policing the right way, extending a hand to someone who looked like they needed assistance. Instead of gratitude, he got a bullet in the leg.
Pantoja-Morales is now sitting behind bars where he belongs, and the charges he is facing carry serious prison time. Meanwhile, a veteran officer with nearly two decades of service is fighting to recover from a potentially life threatening injury he never should have suffered.
Read more American news stories at: The American Tribune
Last edited by a moderator:
