Dallas Gunman Believed To Be Involved In Other Shootings
GARLAND, Texas (AP) – A man arrested after allegedly shooting at a Dallas-area restaurant is believed to be the same gunman who fired on motorists in five apparently random suburban shootings over three days, police said Wednesday.
Three people were injured in the shootings, but none critically, after a gunman in a small black Honda Prelude shot at three groups of motorists Sunday, one person Monday and another Tuesday.
Most cars were fired upon while stopped at red lights.
“We’re going to wait for some more testing today, but we feel like he’s responsible for all six,” Garland Police spokesman Joe Harn said.
Thai-An Huu Nguyen, 22, of Garland, was being held in the Garland Jail without bond Wednesday and faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, endangering a child and deadly conduct.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
He was arrested Tuesday night after a Prelude pulled into a restaurant parking lot in Garland about 9 p.m. The driver got out and fired into a wall just below the windows. No one was injured.
About 90 minutes later, a Garland officer made a traffic stop and found a pistol inside the Prelude. Witnesses said the driver matched the description of the shooter at the restaurant.
The shooting spree began Sunday about 5 p.m. in Garland, when a gunman opened fire on a car driven by a 22-year-old man.
The car was stopped at an intersection, and a 20-year-old woman and her 4-month-old son also were inside. The driver was shot in the hand and the woman was injured by flying glass.
The baby was covered in glass but unhurt.
Four hours later, a 37-year-old man who was stopped at a Mesquite intersection with his 9-year-old son was shot in the abdomen. He remained in the hospital Wednesday but was in fair condition and expected to live, Harn said.
The third shooting Sunday came about an hour later, when a vehicle was fired at while exiting an interstate in Mesquite. The car wasn’t hit.
Monday afternoon in nearby Richardson, a driver was shot at while waiting at a stoplight. The man whose Ford Explorer was hit three times on the driver’s side was uninjured.
About 7 p.m. Tuesday, a woman was driving in Plano when a small black car pulled up alongside her and fired a shot that missed her vehicle, Plano police spokesman Rick McDonald told The Dallas Morning News.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
