News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Standoff Continues Between Police And Man In Crane At SMU

Credit: Avi Adelman

Late Monday afternoon a man claiming to have a weapon remained barricaded in the cab of a construction crane about 100 feet above the Southern Methodist University campus.

Dallas police Corporal Melinda Gutierrez says an eyewitness saw the man near the crane site around 11:30 in the morning and contacted SMU campus police.

Officer Gutierrez: When they saw him, this witness saw him breaking into the crane they alerted SMU- PD. SMU PD went to the location where they were able to contact him. At that time that’s when he informed them he had a weapon and if they got any closer they was going to shoot them. That was around 11:30 this afternoon.

Reporter: Can you talk about what’s in the crane? Does he have supplies, is it air conditioned, is there food, how would he get in and out?

Officer Gutierrez: I was informed the crane does not have power and there’s no air conditioning it.

Police have evacuated a shopping center near the campus and deployed SWAT officers.

Police could not confirm whether they’ve been able to communicate with the suspect using radios located on the crane, and they can’t confirm what kind of a weapon he has if any.

It was also unclear whether the suspect in the crane cab is the same man who stole a truck earlier in the day then fled the scene.

Because Monday is a holiday few students are on the SMU campus. Police have blocked the entrances to several streets on the east side of the campus where the crane and suspect are located.

Shelley Kofler, KERA News

US Senate race headlines full Texas primary slate

Political insiders nationwide will be watching Tuesday when long-serving Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst squares off with tea party favorite Ted Cruz.

Both are seeking the Republican nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

It could be another incarnation of Indiana voters rejecting Senate veteran Richard Lugar, and Nebraska state Sen. Deb Fischer upsetting two better-known U.S. Senate candidates.

Cruz says he's more conservative then Dewhurst.

Dewhurst counters that national tea party groups are meddling in Texas politics.

The contest headlines 170 major competitive races statewide.

Those include the race to replace the retiring Ron Paul in Congress, and for four new congressional seats the state gained thanks to its booming population.

AP

At least 4 wounded in Dallas party shooting

An argument at a parking lot celebration erupted in gunfire, wounding at least four people on a street corner south of downtown Dallas.

Dallas police statement say the incident happened just before 1 a.m. Sunday in a liquor store parking lot. Sr. Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez says a suspect was leaving with a group of people when he drew a handgun and fired into the air. Another suspect who was standing by his vehicle then fired his handgun into that group.

The wounded were taken to Baylor University Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition. They were an 18-year-old man wounded in the foot, a 10-year-old boy wounded in the right thigh and two 17-year-old girls, one wounded in her upper torso and the other in the leg.

No identities were released. No arrests have been reported.

AP