DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A North Texas man is facing a murder charge after fatally shooting an unarmed burglar during an altercation with two female Family Dollar Employees.
47-year-old Kevin Jackson is charged in the death of Phillip Betts.
Dallas Police responded to a call about a shooting around 7:27 p.m. Tuesday at the store at 3200 South Lancaster Road in Oak Cliff.
When officers arrived, they found Betts lying on the ground with a gunshot wound. He was declared dead at the scene.
Jackson also remained on the scene and spoke with police.
According to an affidavit, Betts returned to Family Dollar after the assistant store manager asked him to leave and to return the stolen items.
He allegedly started hitting two female workers, “striking her multiple times with his fists.” Another employee “intervened by spraying Betts with mace and trying to get him to leave.”
Police said surveillance video shows Jackson walking in and pulling out his gun, telling the women to move and firing the fatal shot as Betts was running towards the front door, according to the affidavit.
Priscilla Dodson told our media partner WFAA TV those employees are vulnerable.
“They have no men working in none of the dollar stores…that’s the problem, they have women. So, the men that come and to steal take advantage of that,” she said.
The gun Jackson used was legal. He said he intervened because he was concerned about the two employees’ safety.
The incident raises questions about when the use of deadly force is warranted.
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