Dallas police say man died after in-store assault; department releases 911 and body-cam footage

Deputy Chief William Griffith of the Dallas Police Criminal Investigations Group said on July 13, 2025 that 41‑year‑old Gerald Johnson died after being detained following an alleged in‑store assault in the 5600 block of Lisonbee Avenue.

Griffith outlined a timeline: police received a 911 call at about 3:49 p.m. reporting Johnson acting erratically. Griffith said Johnson entered a business and later a convenience store, allegedly confronted employees, forced open a register and took money, and then followed and assaulted a female employee. Witnesses intervened and separated the victim from Johnson until officers arrived, Griffith said.

The first officer arrived at about 3:55 p.m. and found Johnson lying on his back, the deputy chief said. Officers rolled him onto his stomach to handcuff him, turned him over and helped him sit up while collecting his personal information. Griffith said Johnson asked for water around 4:01 p.m.; by 4:05 p.m. an officer observed he could not sit up without help and called for an ambulance. Dallas Fire Rescue medic personnel arrived at about 4:17 p.m., an ambulance arrived about 4:23 p.m., and Griffith said Dallas Fire Rescue began CPR around 4:31 p.m. Johnson was transported to a hospital, where he died.

Griffith told reporters detectives learned Johnson had been treated earlier that morning for symptoms of a drug overdose and for what staff described as "excited delirium," and that he had been released from hospital care at 2:07 p.m. that day.

"No officers used force during this incident," Griffith said, and he added the Dallas Police Special Investigations Unit is conducting an ongoing investigation. Griffith said the Dallas County District Attorney's Office was notified and will conduct its own investigation and that the Office of Community Police Oversight responded to the scene and has been briefed. To increase transparency, he said, the department is releasing 911 audio and body‑worn camera footage of the incident.

The public record includes dispatch and on‑scene audio in which callers and officers can be heard directing the detained man to "roll over" and to "sit up," and where bystanders report that customers were fighting with the suspect and that the suspect had been spitting and acting erratically. Dispatch audio includes several location names at different moments in the recording; the department's briefing identified the site as the 5600 block of Lisonbee Avenue.

The Dallas Police statement that no officers used force and the department's investigative findings are pending; the Dallas County District Attorney's Office and the agency's internal Special Investigations Unit will conduct their own reviews. The department did not provide family statements or outside reactions in the briefing.

The department released the 911 and body‑worn camera recordings for public review; Griffith said the notifications and releases occurred as part of the department's ongoing, multi‑agency review. The Dallas Police Special Investigations Unit is leading the departmental probe while the District Attorney's office pursues its independent review.

Next steps: the Special Investigations Unit and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office are conducting investigations; the department said it would provide the released audio and video to the public and investigators. No timetable for completing the reviews was provided.