Dallas police say officer fired four times in Fairview Avenue encounter; suspect later died

Dallas Police Department officials on 07/09/2025 described an officer-involved shooting that left a 37-year-old man dead after officers attempting to subdue him used nonlethal tools and, ultimately, lethal force.

Police said multiple 911 callers reported a man later identified as Jake Miller acting erratically and cutting himself with knives and that one caller said the man ‘‘came at her with a knife’’ and she locked herself inside her vehicle. ‘‘He was acting erratically and cutting himself with knives,’’ the chief (unidentified) told reporters.

According to the department, the first officer on scene struck Miller with a pepper-ball launcher. Additional officers arrived and observed Miller still holding two knives. Officers issued repeated verbal commands to ‘‘stop, drop the knives’’ and re-applied pepper balls when Miller did not comply. The department said officers subsequently deployed a taser, which did not stop him.

The briefing states that Miller then charged an officer named in the briefing as Officer Anthony Pargas; ‘‘at that time, he fired his handgun 4 times, striking Mister Miller,’’ the chief (unidentified) said. Miller fell to the ground still holding a knife and began trying to cut himself; officers removed the knife, provided emergency medical treatment, and Dallas Fire and Rescue transported him to a hospital. The department said Miller later ‘‘passed away.’’

The Dallas Police Department notified the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, which the department said will conduct its own investigation, and the Office of Community Police Oversight was briefed. The department announced it will release the 911 audio and body-worn camera footage from the incident.

Reporters asked whether the suspect appeared to be experiencing a mental-health episode; the chief said, ‘‘It would appear so,’’ and described this as a call type that typically triggers a Crisis Intervention Team response. The chief also said toxicology results are pending and expected ‘‘in the next few days.’’

The briefing included a personnel detail that appears inconsistent in the transcript: the officer who fired was named in the account as Anthony Pargas, while a later line in the briefing refers to an ‘‘Officer Anthony Vargas’’ as a department member since January 2025. The department did not resolve that name discrepancy during the on-camera briefing.

No formal charges or determinations of criminal or policy violations were announced at the briefing. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office will review the incident; the department said it will release the 911 call and body-worn camera footage to provide additional context.

The department also addressed officer support after the incident, saying officers ‘‘know there will be scrutiny’’ and describing a wellness program for personnel involved in critical incidents. Toxicology and further investigative findings were not released at the briefing and remain pending.