Two overnight shootings Tuesday in Deep Ellum left a security guard dead and five others wounded, according to Dallas police.
Officers were first dispatched about 10:20 p.m. to the 2900 block of Commerce Street, where police spokesman Corbin Rubinson said five people had been struck by gunfire.
Shortly before midnight, a second shooting was reported three blocks away near a restaurant and nightclub in the 2800 block of Elm Street. Police said 23-year-old Detorius Tarver shot and killed a security guard who was trying to break up a fight involving Tarver.
The security guard, Joseph Gray, 26, was pronounced dead at a hospital. Tarver was booked into the Dallas County jail on a murder charge.
The Commerce Street shooter remains at large.
The shootings come as public safety in Deep Ellum has drawn renewed attention from residents and city leaders, particularly after violent crime rose in the entertainment district last summer.
The increase led to a number of community meetings and prompted the Deep Ellum Foundation, the nonprofit that helps manage the neighborhood, to revise its public safety plan. The group wants the city to rethink how it regulates late-night venues, calling for the creation of a new permit for businesses that regularly host entertainment after hours.
As the neighborhood’s coffee shops and cafes opened Wednesday morning, subtle reminders of the crime scenes remained. Near a restaurant on Elm, balloons in the colors of the Mexican flag sat outside, a token of the night’s Cinco De Mayo celebrations.
A few steps away, bloody footprints stained the sidewalk.
There stood Christopher Kavanaugh, 33, who has lived in Dallas for three years. Kavanaugh said he loved Deep Ellum so much, he started filming social media videos to support its small businesses.
It saddens him, he said, to watch such recurring violence take away from their success.
“It’s pretty, unfortunate that you can’t go out and celebrate,” Kavanaugh said. “You have to constantly look over your shoulder.”