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A man was killed late Thursday when a Dallas police officer returning home from her shift entered the wrong apartment in her building and eventually opened fire, authorities said.
Details surrounding the 26-year-old man’s death were not immediately available early Friday. Dallas police said in a statement that preliminary information suggests the officer involved called for help, and told responding officers that “she entered the victim’s apartment believing that it was her own.”
The incident began just before 10 p.m. CT (11 p.m. ET) at the South Side Flats, an upscale apartment complex directly south of Dallas’ downtown.
During the encounter, the officer was in full uniform and “fired her weapon striking the victim,” police said.
The man was taken to the hospital and died. His identity was not immediately released pending family notification.
The officer also was not identified, and was being placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
At a news conference early Friday, Dallas police Sgt. Warren Mitchell said they had yet to interview the officer and would not speculate as to whether she mistakenly entered another apartment and believed the man already inside was an intruder.
“We still have a lot to do in this investigation,” Mitchell said.