Cop, Dallas police chief's son dead after shootout

[June 21, 2010]  LANCASTER, Texas (AP) -- A police officer and two other men, including the son of Dallas' police chief, were killed in shootings at a suburban Dallas apartment complex, authorities said.

The officer was responding to a reported domestic disturbance around 6 p.m. at the apartment complex in Lancaster, just south of Dallas, when the call was upgraded to shots fired, police spokesman Sgt. Derek Clark said. When the officer arrived, an exchange of gunfire erupted and the officer was killed.

His name hasn't been released, but Lancaster Police Chief Keith Humphrey said late Sunday that he was a 37-year-old father of two and a five-year police veteran.

"We're heartbroken, and his family is devastated," Humphrey said. "(He was) one of the best people, one of the top officers in the department. Very caring, very giving, selfless, hard worker."

The officer was the department's first to be fatally shot in the line of duty, Humphrey said.

One of the other two men killed was David O'Neal Brown Jr., the adult son of Dallas' police chief, said Dallas Police Assistant Chief Charles Cato. He didn't specify whether Brown was killed before police arrived or during the officer-involved shooting.

The third victim hasn't been identified.

The Dallas Morning News reported that Brown, 27, was arrested on suspicion of selling marijuana in Waxahachie in 2003, but pleaded no contest and was convicted of a misdemeanor. In an interview earlier this year, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said he was proud of how his son, also a father, grew after the incident.

[Associated Press]

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