Bodycam: Texas Police Confront Knife‑Wielding Suspect After Restaurant Attack

By Timia Cobb and Michael Cuviello

Source The Dallas Morning News

A man accused of attacking several people with a knife inside a Richardson restaurant Wednesday night died after being shot by police following his requests that they kill him, Richardson police said.

Richardson police released portions of the officers' bodycam video which showed the suspect had earlier warned a dispatcher he intended to harm people at the restaurant and wanted police to use lethal force on him.

Police Chief Gary Tittle identified the suspect as 28-year-old Stephen Kwembe during a Thursday news conference. Tittle said Kwembe had appeared earlier Wednesday in Richardson Municipal Court on a drug paraphernalia charge before later going to the Richardson Police Department to retrieve a firearm that had previously been impounded in connection with that arrest. The firearm was not released to him, Tittle said.

Several hours later, Kwembe called a Garland police non-emergency line and said he was going to Good Vibes Bar & Grill to kill people he said had wronged him and anyone who tried to intervene, according to police dispatch audio released Thursday. Kwembe also told the dispatcher to make sure responding officers killed him because if they did not, he would continue killing as many people as he could. He also warned that "it's gonna be bloody."

Officers arrived at the restaurant in the 2100 block of East Buckingham Road at 10 p.m. after receiving reports of a man with a knife threatening to harm people at the establishment, police said in a news release.

According to Tittle, multiple 911 calls soon followed from patrons inside the restaurant reporting several people had been stabbed and that the suspect was standing near the entrance armed with a knife.

When officers arrived, they encountered Kwembe outside the restaurant holding a knife and positioned between officers and the entrance, blocking them from reaching victims inside, Tittle said. Officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the knife and get on the ground.

Body camera footage shows officers repeatedly ordering Kwembe to drop the knife while telling him they did not want to kill him. At one point, Kwembe yelled, "Kill me" and "I want to die," according to the footage.

Kwembe then advanced toward two officers while still armed with the knife, prompting both officers to fire their weapons. After Kwembe fell, a third officer deployed a less-lethal beanbag round in an effort to safely separate the knife from him before officers moved in to provide medical aid. Additional officers then entered the restaurant and began treating the stabbing victims, Tittle said.

Police said customers inside the restaurant locked the front doors after Kwembe exited the building to prevent him from re-entering.

The two officers who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave, standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting, Tittle said. Neither officer, one of whom has been with the department for six years and the other for two years, was publicly identified.

Several of the victims were hurt while trying to protect another person and stop the attack, Tittle said. Immediate aid was provided to the man and the victims inside the restaurant, police said. Kwembe was also taken to a hospital, where he was later died. The other four victims remained hospitalized Thursday in intensive care units, according to police. .

A post shared on the restaurant's Facebook page said it will be closed Thursday and reopen Friday.

Second fatal OIS in Richardson

On Monday, Richardson police were involved in another shooting. A person was shot and injured by Richardson police after reportedly being involved in a robbery at a business in the 1400 block of East Belt Line Road. The unidentified suspect was taken to a hospital in an unknown condition.

The shooting in Richardson on Wednesday follows a string of recent mass violence events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In Carrollton on Tuesday, two people were killed and three were injured by a man following a business dispute near the K Towne Plaza. Seung Ho Han, 69, was taken into custody at a nearby H Mart for the shooting.

In Dallas' Deep Ellum, five people were wounded and a security guard was killed in two shootings late Tuesday and early Wednesday. The first shooting included the five victims and occurred at 10:20 p.m. in the 2900 block of Commerce Street, Dallas police said. The second shooting was reported three blocks away, two hours later, near a nightclub in the 2800 block of Elm Street.

Police said Detorius Tarver Jr., 23, shot and killed a security guard who was trying to break up a fight involving Tarver. The security guard, Joseph Gray, 26, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

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