DALLAS (AP) — Authorities were scouring a Dallas neighborhood for a suspect Monday after a paramedic was shot and critically wounded while helping a shooting victim.
Emergency responders were treating a civilian who had been shot around 11:30 a.m. in a neighborhood east of downtown when another person approached, opened fired and critically injured the paramedic, according to a statement from the city.
Officials believe the suspect is still in the vicinity. No details have been released about the shooter or what may have sparked the incident.
“The entire area is still active and very dangerous,” police spokesman Warren Mitchell said in an email, adding that it was unsafe to allow media into the area.
The paramedic was rushed to Baylor Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in crucial but stable condition, the city said. Details about the civilian’s condition haven’t been released.
Dozens of police vehicles swarmed the mostly residential area after the shooting was reported near a local Fire Training Academy. Several people from a nearby neighborhood and some relatives of people who live in the barricaded area gathered at a nearby gas station to await updates from police.
The Dallas Police Association tweeted earlier Monday that officers responding to an active shooter were “pinned down” by gunfire.
FBI agents and officers with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also were in unmarked vehicles waiting at intersections in the neighborhood. Officials from the local fire department and parks department passed out water and Gatorade to officers blocking the roads.
Phone and emails messages from The Associated Press seeking further details about the incident weren’t immediately returned by Dallas police and the Dallas Fire Department.
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