Thomas Simpson (WFAA/YouTube).
A Texas man is recovering after he was shot in the leg by police officers who mistakenly showed up to his home while responding to a call, authorities say.
Grand Prairie police were responding to a home in the 3000 block of Holly Drive around 1:45 a.m. Friday for a disturbance call, the agency told local media. But the caller”s cell phone generated the wrong address and dispatchers sent cops to a home down the street. That’s where Thomas Simpson and his family were sleeping.
Cops say they knocked on Simpson’s door for five minutes and no one answered. Then they saw Simpson come out of his garage in an “aggressive stance” before pointing a gun at officers who opened fire, hitting Simpson.
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Simpson explained his side of the story in an interview with Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW. He told the TV station he thought intruders were trying to break into his home.
“What I saw is the garage door open. I saw two pairs of legs. So I raised my pistol, ready to fire, assuming it was criminals,” Simpson stated. “I never popped the round off. As soon as the door opened, I saw their badge. I threw the gun to the ground, got shot in the leg. I dropped to the ground and Grand Prairie PD proceeded to fire about eight rounds after I was on the ground.”
Simpson was the only one hit by the gunfire. One of the bullets hit a pipe causing it to burst, he reportedly said. He claimed the cops never identified themselves.
“Obviously, I’m not gonna raise my gun to a cop, but I didn’t know,” Simpson said.
The homeowner said he was upset, particularly about the fact that his teenage kids were handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser for four hours following the incident.
“They saw their daddy gets shot. We’re gonna talk to lawyers and go after everybody responsible for it,” Simpson told KDFW. “They need to pay. They need to learn there are consequences to their actions.”
But Simpson said he’s most thankful that everyone in his home survived.
“All of us are extremely lucky nobody got killed,” he told local ABC affiliate WFAA.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office will consider if criminal charges against Simpson are appropriate.
