Trauma Surgeon on Dallas Police Shootings: ‘This killing, it has to stop’

A trauma surgeon who worked in the ER on the night of the Dallas attack that killed five officers has spoken on his experience that fateful night and on his personal struggle with racial divide during a press conference at Parkland Memorial Hospital on July 11.
Trauma Surgeon on Dallas Police Shootings: ‘This killing, it has to stop’
Dallas police tighten security at their headquarters after receiving an anonymous threat against law enforcement across the city on July 9, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
7/11/2016
Updated:
7/11/2016

A Dallas police officer covers his face as he stands with others outside the emergency room at Baylor University Medical Center, Friday, July 8, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A Dallas police officer covers his face as he stands with others outside the emergency room at Baylor University Medical Center, Friday, July 8, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The trauma surgeon has a daughter and says he is teaching her how to respect police. Williams says he does simple things around her, such as picking up tabs and buying ice cream for police officers.

“I want my daughter to see me interacting with police that way so she doesn’t grow up with the same burden that I carry when it comes with interacting with law enforcement, and I also want the police to see me, a black man, and understand that I support you, I will defend you, I will care for you. That doesn’t mean that I do not fear you,” he said.

Captain Dan Birbeck of the Dallas County Hospital District Police says the Dallas attack was the worst thing he has ever seen in his 20-year law enforcement career.

“I think we all know that when we do this job there’s a chance we may not come home,” said Birbeck. “It became real that night for our guys.”

“It’s shaken us, it’s shaken me to the core,” said Birbeck, who works in the hospital’s ER.

An FBI evidence response team works the crime scene, Sunday, July 10, 2016, where Dallas police officers were killed Thursday, in Dallas. A peaceful protest over the recent videotaped shootings of black men by police turned violent Thursday night as gunman Micah Johnson shot at officers, killing five and injuring seven, as well as two civilians. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
An FBI evidence response team works the crime scene, Sunday, July 10, 2016, where Dallas police officers were killed Thursday, in Dallas. A peaceful protest over the recent videotaped shootings of black men by police turned violent Thursday night as gunman Micah Johnson shot at officers, killing five and injuring seven, as well as two civilians. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Authorities identified the shooter as 25-year-old Micah Johnson, a U.S. army veteran.

Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown says authorities are downloading over 170 hours of bodycam footage, as well as collecting dashcam videos, and footage from surrounding businesses. The videos will hopefully give officials a timestamp of the entire incident, Brown said. Detectives are reviewing over 300 statements on the attack, and some officers have yet to give their declarations. Dallas police and the FBI are working to find out what “RB” means, which was written in blood by the suspect on the wall in two different locations in El Centro College.

Five police officers were killed, nine were injured by either gunfire or fragmentation of bullets. Four of the injured were from the Dallas Police Department, three were DART officers, and two were officers from the El Centro College.

The funeral notices of the slain officers have been released.