Dallas Man Fires Bullets Through Door to Fend Off Armed Intruders
Two armed men posing as maintenance workers attempted to break into an apartment in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, August 19, resulting in an exchange of gunfire.
Ethan Rodriguez’s door camera captured the dramatic incident. The footage shows 30-year-old Aaron Contreras speaking to Rodriguez on his doorbell system.
Contreras initially tells Rodriguez that people had checked the apartment’s air conditioning filter, before switching to say he was there to inspect it.
Rodriguez explained to Storyful he told the man that nobody was home because the change in story made him suspicious.
“A month prior we asked the apartment to change [the air filters] but they said they don’t do that so I knew something was up,” Rodriguez said.
After briefly leaving, the footage shows the man return with a handgun and attempt to kick down the door. Another masked suspect runs up the stairs to join him, before Rodriguez shoots through the door causing the pair to flee.
“I was going to wait for him to break the door with my firearm in my hand,” Rodriguez told Storyful.
“[But] once I saw that gun I feared for myself and my brother’s life,” he said.
Citing Dallas police, Fox News Digital reported that officers responded to the scene and found 13 bullet holes exiting the front door and two more entering through the door.
Contreras was arrested on Monday, August 21, charged with aggravated assault, deadly conduct and attempted burglary of a habitation. He is being held in the Dallas County jail on a $150,000 bond, according to jail records. Credit: Ethan Rodriguez via Storyful
Video Transcript
- [YAWNS].
- Can I help you?
- Oh, yes. They came to check your air filters. I'm not sure. This is 3-- 8277?
- [AUDIO OUT] wrong apartment. No one changed the air filters.
- Can you repeat that?
- No one came to check the air filters [AUDIO OUT] apartment.
- No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, we're checking the air filters.
- Oh, nobody's home right now. You'll have to wait until another day.
- Oh, much appreciated. 872 [INAUDIBLE].
[KICKING DOOR]
- [SPANISH].
[KICKING DOOR]
[GUNSHOTS]
