Dallas police say officers exchanged fire with armed 18-year-old; grandmother injured during bathroom encounter

Dallas Police Department leaders on Feb. 2 provided a factual update on an officer-involved shooting in the 4300 block of Woodhollow Drive that left an 18-year-old man and his grandmother wounded and prompted a departmental and criminal investigation.

Chief Daniel Como said officers responded at about 8:41 p.m. after a 911 call reporting an armed disturbance and a caller saying the suspect, identified in the briefing as 18-year-old Tony Robinson, refused to put a weapon away and threatened to shoot family members. Officers arrived within minutes and were directed to a bathroom where Robinson had locked himself with his grandmother, according to Como.

"They saved lives," Como said when asked whether the officers' actions were justified. He described a chaotic scene in which family members were screaming that Robinson "has a gun," and said officers forced the bathroom door open after believing someone inside may have been endangered.

Como said an exchange of gunfire followed when Robinson confronted officers while armed and pointed a handgun at them. One officer was struck in the chest but his ballistic vest stopped the round and he was not injured. "Officer…