Arrest made in Oak Cliff apartment shootout

The Independent

A suspect has been arrested over his alleged involvement in a dramatic shootout while attempting to break into a Dallas apartment, police said.  The 19 August incident in the Oak Cliff area was captured by a doorbell camera.  A man claiming to be a maintenance worker turned up to the apartment door. When he and an acomplice tried to kick down the door, the inhabitant, Ethan Rodriguez, opened fire on the would-be intruders, who quickly fled.

Transcript

00:00 the gunman's car. He was

00:01 driving in the direction of

00:03 the apartment building. He was

00:05 shot. A burglary attempt at a

00:06 Dallas apartment ended with a

00:08 violent shootout. Before the

00:15 gunfire doorbell cameras

00:16 captured one of the gunman

00:17 pretending to be a maintenance

00:19 worker when he thought no one

00:20 was home. He and an accomplice

00:23 tried to kick in the door. Then

00:24 they found out quickly. Someone

00:26 was inside with a gun ready to

00:28 fight back. Fox four's Amelia

00:29 Lee has more on the gunman's

00:31 story. It's a story that

00:32 happened in the middle of the

00:35 night. Steve that man who

00:37 fought back his name is Ethan

00:39 Rodriguez, and he told me today

00:41 that in that moment he feared

00:43 for his life. He told us that

00:45 he has no connection to the man

00:45 who posed as that maintenance

00:48 worker. And he believes that

00:50 this was a crime of opportunity

00:52 Saturday, August 19th around

00:55 six p.m.

00:57 The man was shot in the head

01:00 with a gun. He was shot in the

01:02 head. He was shot at a complex

01:02 off of Gannon Lane in Oak

01:06 Cliff. Oh yes, they came to

01:09 check your air filters. Ethan

01:10 Rodriguez talks to the man

01:11 through his doorbell camera.

01:15 Don't come to her. No, no, no,

01:16 no, no. Yes, we're checking the

01:18 air filters. Rodriguez tells

01:20 him no one is home and to come

01:21 back another day. Much

01:23 appreciated. A few minutes

01:26 later, the man was shot in the

01:28 head with a gun. He was shot in

01:30 the head with a gun. Little did

01:34 they know Rodriguez is home and

01:35 had been on his phone talking

01:35 to them through his doorbell

01:37 camera. So I hurry up and

01:42 check the camera to see. Who's

01:44 all at the door, and I saw him

01:45 kicking the door with the farm

01:46 and fearing for mine and my

01:47 brother's life. I just let the

01:50 gun go. I didn't know what to

01:52 do. Dallas police say Rodriguez

01:54 was shot in the head with a

01:56 gun. The man was shot in the

01:58 head with a gun. According to

02:00 the Dallas police arrest

02:01 affidavit, the video posted and

02:03 circulated on social media led

02:05 to Crime Stoppers tips that

02:06 identified the suspect posing

02:08 as the maintenance worker as 30

02:11 year old Aaron Contreras. This

02:12 is basically just a random

02:13 attack. No one could have. We

02:16 couldn't have expected any of

02:18 this. No, he's not really. He's

02:19 not linked to anybody in my

02:20 family or anybody that we know

02:21 two days later on Monday,

02:23 Rodriguez was shot in the head

02:24 with a gun. The man was shot in

02:26 the head with a gun. The

02:28 suspect is not linked to anyone

02:29 in Dallas County Sheriff's

02:31 Office records show Contreras

02:32 criminal history dates back to

02:35 2013. The records show he's

02:37 been arrested and charged with

02:39 robbery and burglary several

02:40 times before. I'm guessing he

02:41 just thought this was just

02:42 going to be a lucky payday. No

02:44 one's home, and this is just

02:44 free stuff to steal here. No,

02:48 he thought wrong. Dallas police

02:50 couldn't share any information

02:52 about the man's whereabouts.

02:54 They're asking for a full

02:55 investigation. The sheriff's

02:57 office says his identity as

02:59 part of the ongoing

03:01 investigation, Rodriguez told

03:02 us that he has not received any

03:04 messages about who that man

Transcript

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