Video: Dallas Police Officer Struck in Vest in Family Feud Shootout

By Chase Rogers

Source The Dallas Morning News

Dallas police on Wednesday released edited body-camera footage of a shooting at a Red Bird-area apartment, showing the moments before two officers opened fire and wounded an armed suspect and his grandmother.

The shooting — the department’s second involving police this year — happened Monday evening in the 4300 block of Woodhollow Drive. The suspect, identified as Tony Robinson, 18, underwent surgery and remained hospitalized Wednesday, police said. The grandmother was hospitalized and released.

Both officers were placed on leave while Dallas police and the Dallas County district attorney’s office investigate the shooting. Robinson faces an aggravated assault of a peace officer charge once he is released. Police said he fired a handgun at an officer during the encounter, hitting the officer in his ballistic vest.

“You can see in the video: the gun was pointed dead at the officer and he had to take action,” police Chief Daniel Comeaux said during a news conference at Jack Evans Police Headquarters. “If he wouldn’t have taken those actions, I believe more lives would’ve been lost.”

The footage shows what the police have described as a family disturbance call that escalated into gunfire. Robinson’s grandmother, Tracey Thornton, 57, told KDFW-TV (Channel 4) that he was in the middle of a mental health crisis prior to police arriving and was armed.

Asked about the family’s account, Comeaux said police had no information at the time to suggest the call was mental health-related and that officers responded as they would to a family disturbance. He said investigators would review whether mental health played a role.

Deputy Chief William Griffith said Wednesday that police were not able to say with certainty whether officers or Robinson shot first.

Police were called to the Mill House Apartments about 8:41 p.m. Monday after a 911 caller reported a disturbance involving a gun. The caller, who identified Robinson as his son, told dispatchers that Robinson was trying to shoot him. Yelling can be heard on the recording played at the news conference.

Robinson was with his grandmother in the apartment’s bathroom with the door closed. The footage shows officers entering the apartment, with one officer, identified as Senior Cpl. Caleb McCollum, pushing through the bathroom door before gunshots can be heard.

As gunfire erupts, the footage shows an arm extending through the doorway, pointing a Glock pistol into the hallway where McCollum is standing. Comeaux said the handgun was fitted with an extended magazine and a “switch” — a small aftermarket device that can be attached to certain pistols to make them fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger.

Federal authorities classify the device as a machine gun under the National Firearms Act, meaning it is generally illegal to possess without the required federal licensing and registration.

Griffith said the gun was in the custody of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for review.

During the gunfight, the grandmother moves from the bathroom to a bedroom across the hallway. The footage shows McCollum tending to her gunshot wounds afterward.

The footage also shows Officer Tavion Bozeman, the other officer who fired his handgun, shooting toward the bathroom from the apartment’s living room.

“The situation, obviously, was very fast, very fluid,” Comeaux said while fielding questions from reporters. “The good thing is that his bullets did not strike another officer, and he had the target in the right direction.”

McCollum has been with the Dallas Police Department since January 2020 and worked previously at the police departments in Oak Ridge and Lancaster, according to state records. Bozeman joined Dallas police in January 2025.

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