Police said the exchange erupted within seconds as officers forced entry to a bathroom.
DALLAS, TX — A disturbance call at a Dallas apartment escalated into gunfire that wounded two civilians and left a police officer struck in the ballistic vest on Feb. 2, authorities said, as investigators continued reviewing what happened inside the unit.
The shooting drew attention in Dallas because it involved a close-quarters confrontation inside a residence with multiple people present, and because police say the suspect used a handgun altered to fire like an automatic weapon. Officials said they still cannot say for certain who fired first, even after releasing edited police video and audio from the call.
Officers were sent to the Mill House Apartments in the Red Bird area about 8:41 p.m. after a 911 caller reported a disturbance involving a gun in the 4300 block of Woodhollow Drive, police said. Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said officers entered the apartment and heard people shouting that someone had a gun inside a bathroom. In the recordings played publicly, a woman can be heard yelling, “He has a gun, he has a gun,” as officers moved down a hallway toward the closed door.
Police identified the suspect as 18-year-old Tony Robinson and said he was inside the bathroom with his grandmother, 57-year-old Tracey Thornton. Senior Cpl. Caleb McCollum pushed through the bathroom door, and gunfire erupted almost immediately, police said. Comeaux said one officer was hit in the vest and was expected to be OK. Two civilians were shot and taken to a hospital, officials said, with one undergoing surgery soon after the shooting and the other listed in stable condition at that time.
Investigators said about 10 people were inside the apartment when the disturbance began, and they believed the two people at the center of the confrontation were related. Deputy Chief William Griffith said investigators were not able to say with certainty whether officers or Robinson fired first. Police said video shows an arm extending from the bathroom doorway with a handgun pointed into the hallway where an officer stood. In the footage, the exchange lasts only moments before the hallway fills with shouted commands and calls for medical help.
Comeaux said the firearm Robinson allegedly used was a Glock pistol equipped with an extended magazine and an aftermarket “switch,” a small device that can allow a pistol to fire repeatedly with a single trigger pull. Police said the device is generally illegal to possess without the required federal licensing and registration, and officials said federal authorities were reviewing the weapon. Comeaux said that after the shooting, the magazine still held 29 rounds. Officers at the scene called for paramedics while rendering aid, and police video shows an officer pressing a hand to Thornton’s wounds as she sat on the floor and asked if she was bleeding.
Thornton told reporters in interviews broadcast by local media that she believed her grandson was in a mental health crisis before police arrived and that she went into the bathroom with him to try to keep him from harming anyone. Police said there was no indication in the initial 911 call that the incident was a mental health crisis, and Comeaux said officers responded as they would to a report of an armed person threatening others. He said investigators would still review whether mental health played a role in the events leading up to the gunfire.
Police said Thornton was hit multiple times in one arm, and investigators believed she was struck during the initial exchange near the bathroom doorway rather than later as she moved into the apartment. In the video, police said, Thornton is seen leaving the bathroom as shots ring out, then moving across the hall. Officials said she was holding an object police identified as pepper spray, and investigators said she told them she thought she might have needed it to protect herself. Comeaux said the encounter was “very fast” and “very fluid,” and he said it was fortunate that rounds did not strike other officers or bystanders inside the apartment.
Two officers fired their service weapons, police said, and were placed on administrative leave under standard department procedure. Police identified the other officer who fired as Officer Tavion Bozeman. McCollum has been with the Dallas Police Department since January 2020, and Bozeman joined in January 2025, according to information released during the department briefing. Investigators said they collected evidence from the apartment, reviewed the 911 call and prior calls to the location, and continued interviewing witnesses who were inside the unit.
Comeaux said Robinson would be charged with aggravated assault of a public servant once he is released from the hospital, and he said additional charges were possible depending on the outcome of the investigation and the review of the modified handgun. Officials did not announce a timetable for when the case file will be completed, and they said key questions remained under review, including the precise sequence of shots in the bathroom doorway and how Thornton was positioned when she was hit.
As of Sunday, police said the investigation remained open and that Robinson’s expected charge would be filed after he is medically cleared for booking. The next milestone, officials said, will be the completion of the department’s investigative findings and any additional charging decisions tied to the firearm modification.
Author note: Last updated February 9, 2026.