Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

by MONIKA DIAZ, REBECCA LOPEZ and JASON WHITELY

WFAA

Posted on June 20, 2010 at 6:39 PM

Updated Monday, Jun 21 at 6:08 PM


LANCASTER — A Lancaster police officer and the son of Dallas police Chief David Brown are among the three people who were killed in gunfire Sunday evening at an apartment complex in the 900 block of River Bend Drive.

Many of the facts surrounding the complicated crime scene remained unclear late Sunday night.

Lancaster Police Chief Keith Humphrey said the Lancaster officer — a five-year veteran of the force and a father of two children — was answering a "shooting in progress" call around 6 p.m. when there was an exchange of gunfire.

The officer was identified by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office as 37-year-old Craig Shaw, 37, a father of two who worked at the Lancaster Police Department for five years.

Dallas police First Assistant Chief Charles Cato confirmed the death of Chief Brown's son, David O'Neal Brown Jr., in a statement made at police headquarters late Sunday night.

"Chief Brown is with his family this evening," Cato said, adding that the chief mourns the loss of the Lancaster officer in addition to his own son.

"Chief Brown asks that the Dallas community keep his family in their prayers this evening — and in the days to come — as his family tries to comprehend the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident," Cato said.

The third person killed was identified as Jeremy McMillian, 22, of Lancaster. Carolyn Henderson, whose husband is pastor at Christian Holy Temple Church of God in Christ in Oak Cliff, said McMillian had been a member of their congregation.

"He's my kind of godson," Henderson said. "He grew up with my children."

There appeared to be three crime scenes in different areas of the apartment complex. At one location, a vehicle was covered in blue tarp and an unmarked police car could be seen a short distance away.

A second scene, near a complex pool, appeared focused on a red sport utility vehicle.

The third scene, at the rear of the complex, was centered on a white four-door vehicle that appeared to have crashed next to a Dumpster.

"Officers responded to the apartment complex and started looking for the shooter," said Kim Leach, a Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman. "At the time, the suspect turned and shot one of the officers, killing him. Another officer returned fire at the suspect and shot and killed him."

It was not made clear whether Brown or McMillian was the suspect.

Several residents at the River Bend apartments said they witnessed the violence and its immediate aftermath, but officials were mum about the precise sequence of events.

"I just heard lots of quick shots — you know, like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know — that's all I heard," said Pat Miles. "I jumped down on the floor."

The 37-year-old Lancaster officer was taken to a hospital for treatment and later died. "The investigation is ongoing," Chief Humphrey said.

Dozens of officers from Lancaster, Red Oak and DeSoto were at the scene. Investigators from the Dallas County Sheriff's department were collecting evidence and taking notes.

"I'll keep praying for both of them — the suspect's family and the officer's family," Miles said.

Chief Humphrey said this is a very sad moment for the Lancaster Police Department.

"We lost an officer tonight in the line of duty," he said. "We're heartbroken, and his family is devastated."

David Brown Sr. has been Chief of Police in Dallas for less than two months. His wife, Cedonia, is a sergeant on the Dallas force.

In 2003, Brown Jr. was arrested on suspicion of selling marijuana in Waxahachie. He pleaded no contest and was convicted of a misdemeanor.

The chief said in an interview earlier this year that he was proud of the way his son, also a father, grew after the incident.

"I'm much more impressed when you make mistakes, how you respond to it," Brown said in May. "It speaks to the kind of man he is. He continued his education, he's gainfully employed in spite of some of the mistakes that he's made."

For Brown, the death of his only son on Father's Day is the latest in a line of personal tragedies.

In 1988, his police academy classmate and former partner Walter L. Williams was fatally shot in the line of duty. Three years later, his younger brother, Kelvin Brown, was killed in the Phoenix area by drug dealers.

Brown has said increased crime in his native Oak Cliff neighborhood played a key role in leading him to become a Dallas police officer in 1983.

As did many others, Carolyn Henderson had many unanswered questions after the death of McMillian, who she called "a very good guy."

"Who shot him, and why did he get shot? And what was the reason?" she asked. "I mean, if it was an accident, then still, we still need to know."

Dallas police chief's son killed Lancaster officer

12:55 PM CDT on Monday, June 21, 2010

By TANYA EISERER and SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com; sgoldstein@dallasnews.com

LANCASTER – The son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown killed a Lancaster police officer and another man during a Sunday melee that left three people dead, according to a law enforcement official.


David Brown Jr., 27, was himself shot and killed by officers, according to the official.

A law enforcement source who is familiar with the case and who asked that he not be identified said Brown had been behaving erratically at the apartment complex where the shootings occurred, in the 900 block of River Bend Drive near West Pleasant Run Road in southern Dallas County.

Wearing boxers, sunglasses and no shoes, Brown apparently killed a man who had just pulled into the complex in his car with his wife and children.

A short time later, he shot and killed Craig Shaw, a five-year veteran of the Lancaster police force who was the first officer called to the scene.

"This community has lost a good officer, a very good officer. We are heartbroken," Lancaster Police Chief Keith Humphrey said.

Shaw, 37, a father of two, was the first Lancaster officer fatally shot in the line of duty.

The other man who was killed was 23-year-old Jeremy Jontae McMillan, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office.

The law enforcement official who has knowledge of the case said that about 5:40 p.m., a car driven by McMillian pulled into a parking lot at the complex.


McMillian, a family man with two jobs and no criminal history, was accompanied by his wife, an infant and another small child. They were headed to his sister’s house for Father’s Day dinner.

It is unclear whether McMillian knew Brown.

A man later identified as Brown approached the driver’s side and fired a couple of rounds, striking McMillian in the neck and head. The gunman fired several times more at the driver’s side of the car, narrowly missing McMillian’s wife and children.

Brown stalked back and forth to his apartment at least two times, getting in and out of cars, before retrieving a rifle out of the trunk of a Dodge Stratus then getting into the Stratus.
[Craig Shaw]
Craig Shaw

As sirens began to sound with the approach of police, and as bystanders were yelling and screaming, he backed the car out and began to leave the apartment complex.

Shaw, the first officer there, tried to stop Stratus after witnesses told him the shooter was driving away, the law enforcement source said.

Brown then stopped, got out of his car, and fired at the officer’s car.

Shaw returned fire, firing many rounds.

It is not clear if Brown was hit at that point, the law enforcement source said. Brown then got back in the car and began firing again from inside the vehicle.

Shaw was hit in the head.

Other officers, who by then had arrived on the scene, returned fire, striking the Brown repeatedly. He died at the scene.

"Officers responded to the apartment complex and started looking for the shooter," Kim Leach, a Dallas County sheriff's department spokeswoman, said earlier. "At the time, the suspect turned and shot one of the officers, killing him. Another officer returned fire at the suspect and shot and killed him."

Earlier in the day, there had been a call regarding Brown causing a disturbance at the swimming pool at the complex.

Humphrey said Shaw was one of the top-rated officers in his department, a "well-liked, very caring, very giving, selfless, hard worker … [who] lost his life defending the citizens of Lancaster."

Witnesses described a chaotic and confusing scene.

"I just heard lots of quick shots – you know, like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know – that's all I heard," said River Bend apartments resident Pat Miles. "I jumped down on the floor."

Throughout the evening, dozens of area residents remained gathered beyond crime scene tape. Officers were seen embracing one another at the scene.

There appeared to be three crime scenes in different areas of the apartment complex. At one scene, a vehicle was covered in blue tarp and an unmarked police car could be seen a short distance away.

A second scene, near the swimming pool, appeared focused on a red sport utility vehicle. The third scene, at the rear of the complex, was centered on a white four-door vehicle that appeared to have crashed next to a Dumpster.

Officers from several area police departments were assisting in the investigation.

Chief Brown could not be reached. First Assistant Chief Charlie Cato, Brown's second in command, confirmed the death in a prepared statement, which he read late Sunday night at Dallas police headquarters.

The chief said in an interview earlier this year that he was proud of the way his son, also a father, grew after a 2003 incident where he was arrested on suspicion of selling marijuana.

"I'm much more impressed when you make mistakes, how you respond to it," Brown said in May.

At the time, he said his son was gainfully employed.
900 block River Bend Drive

For Brown, the death of his only son on Father's Day is the latest in a line of personal tragedies.

In 1988, his police academy classmate and former partner Walter Williams was fatally shot in the line of duty. Three years later, his younger brother, Kelvin Brown, was killed in the Phoenix area by drug dealers.

Brown, who also has two daughters, has said increased crime in his native Oak Cliff neighborhood played a key role in leading him to become a Dallas police officer in 1983.

"We don't know all of the facts of the incident at this time," Cato said in his statement. "Chief Brown asks that the Dallas community keep his family in their prayers this evening and in the days to come as his family tries to comprehend the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident."

Staff Writer Rudolph Bush contributed to this report.