Nine people are dead after a Cowboys game-watching party in Plano, Texas, turned into a slaughter Sunday night.
A gunman killed eight people in a private home at around 8:00 p.m. following a loud argument with the party’s host, according to an eyewitness. The assailant was shot and killed by a Plano police officer while the rampage was still unfolding.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, the Plano Police Department identified the gunman as Spencer Hight, 32, the estranged husband of the woman who hosted the party. According to court records, the couple was in the process of a divorce.
Spencer Hight killed his estranged wife and six of her friends in Plano shooting rampage at football party https://t.co/UGw75KtDSI #breaking pic.twitter.com/k7Pl41CXJk
— Tom Cleary (@tomwcleary) September 11, 2017
Hight shot and killed Meredith Lane Hight and seven of her friends at the party:
UPDATE: family confirms 27-year old Meredith Lane among 7 killed last night at her Plano home. Mom says ex-husband was shooter, killed by PD pic.twitter.com/KEwRIwTXzO
— David Goins (@dgoins) September 11, 2017
Six of her friends were killed on the scene, and two others were wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital. One of those victims has since died. The sole survivor is a woman who was shot in the jaw.
Plano Police said the officer who took down the shooter did not wait for backup before he went in:
NEW: Plano Police officer found bodies in backyard of home, went in through back door, shot & killed shooter. pic.twitter.com/iLNp7gWoaL
— Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) September 11, 2017
NEW: Plano Police say officer who shot shooter did not wait for backup, went in & stopped threat.
— Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) September 11, 2017
Plano Police Chief Gregory W. Rushin commended the officer for his bravery:
Plano Police chief talks about bravery of officer who went into Plano home & took down the shooter. pic.twitter.com/Zjo6z9Fs7x
— Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) September 11, 2017
Crystal Sugg, an eyewitness who works at a nearby nursing home, said she heard a really loud argument outside the home that lasted for about fifteen minutes before the shooting started.
“The arguing is what brought me outside,” she told FOX 4. “You could tell it was getting disturbing — that something was about to happen.”
Sugg said that the man pulled out his gun after the woman had turned to go back into the house and “just started releasing.”
“I heard a lot of screaming,” she continued. “A lot, a lot of screaming. … Nobody was running … All you heard was just shooting. Just shooting. Just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
Our live interview on @FOX4 with witness who says she saw shooter arguing with a woman before he went into Plano home & opened fire. pic.twitter.com/NvMn344xMo
— Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) September 11, 2017
UPDATE on deadly shooting at a Dallas Cowboys watch party off Spring Creek Parkway & Blue Ridge in Plano. pic.twitter.com/S1bVMEPqkY
— Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) September 11, 2017
Several men who were at the residence for the Cowboys-vs.-Giants watch party — and had just left to go to a bar — told FOX there were a number of people still inside the house when the man burst in and opened fire around 8 p.m.
Authorities from Plano, a suburb north of Dallas, rushed to the scene after receiving reports of multiple gunshots and found seven partygoers dead and two others wounded.
An officer who entered the home “engaged the suspect,” shooting and killing him after he reportedly took aim at the cop.
“I’ve been here all my life,” Plano police spokesman David Tilley told the Dallas Morning News. “I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
Witnesses reported hearing 30 to 40 shots coming from the house during the shooting. It is not clear, though, if this included the bullets being fired by police officers.
https://youtu.be/fXtRw7tcQL0
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