Christopher Michael Dew was convicted of aggravated robbery in 2007. (Photo: Irving Police Department)
A robbery suspect who was holding a hostage at gunpoint was shot and killed by law enforcement officers in Irving, Texas, Friday afternoon.
Around 1 p.m., an alarm was triggered at a check cashing business, indicating a robbery in progress. One officer was already near the business when the call came in, and immediately responded, while several other officers arrived on the scene soon thereafter.
At the scene, officers found the male suspect had taken one of the female employees hostage, was holding her at gunpoint and trying to force her into a car in the parking lot. Police did not indicate who the car belonged to, but according to reports from The Dallas Morning News, the suspect warned officers he would harm the woman if they approached him.
The officers heeded the man’s warnings, but still acted at a distance. Two officers shot the suspect, who immediately collapsed, and a nearby witness captured the daring encounter on video.
James McLellan, spokesman for the Irving Police Department, noted that the officers could not let the suspect leave with the hostage.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, while the hostage was unharmed. Police discovered several other employees had taken cover and hid in a locked room during the robbery.
The following day, the suspect was identified as 29-year-old Christopher Michael Dew. Records reportedly show he was convicted of aggravated robbery in 2007.
According to McLellan, the same check cashing business was robbed just three weeks ago, and they were two of about a dozen robberies that have occurred at check cashing stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area over the last three months.
Police did not indicate whether they believed Dew was responsible for any of those robberies, but a local ABC affiliate reported that many of the employees at the checking cashing businesses do not feel their employers are doing enough to protect their businesses and the people who work there.
The officers involved in Friday’s shooting have been placed on administrative leave, as is standard protocol, while the incident is being investigated by Irving detectives, internal affairs, as well as the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office public integrity unit.
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