By Megan Cardona
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
MESQUITE, Texas — A Mesquite police officer died at a Dallas hospital Friday after he was shot while responding to a disturbance outside of an Albertson’s grocery store.
A spokesman with the Mesquite Police Department said a male suspect was also shot and was hospitalized in critical condition.
The names of the officer and the suspect have not been released. Police said the officer was a 21-year veteran of the Mesquite Police Department.
“This was a senseless act of violence that ripped a loving father and husband from his family,” Mesquite Police Chief David Gill said in a live-streamed press conference. "... He was a good man, a good friend and a good officer. Please keep his family and our family in your prayers.”
A large number of police were seen outside Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Dallas, waiting on news of the officer’s condition, WFAA-TV reported. Shortly after 5 p.m., Gill told reporters that the wounded officer died while undergoing treatment at the hospital.
The suspect also was being treated at Baylor Scott & White. The chief did not have an update on his condition.
The shooting occurred at 1:40 p.m. in a parking lot in the 1500 block of South Belt Line Road near Cartwright Road in Mesquite.
The officer was responding to a disturbance call prior to the shooting, Mesquite Police Capt. Stephen Biggs said. The call led to a shootout between the officer and the suspect when the suspect pulled a gun, Gill said.
The officer was shot twice, and the suspect was struck once by gunfire, Gill said.
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