DALLAS — Police said a business deal gone bad was the apparent reason behind the shooting of a 66-year-old father and his 39-year-old son at a North Dallas high-rise Monday morning.
A man armed with a 45 caliber weapon opened fire, shooting Richard Smith and his son Chris after walking into the Smith Financial Group, Inc. office. The business is located on the third floor of the Four Forest building at 12222 Merit Drive near Central Expressway and Coit Road, authorities said.
The alleged shooter was identified as 60-year-old Robert Mustard, Jr., a Southern Methodist University graduate and disbarred lawyer. He was a long-time client of the elder Smith, his financial ad visor.
"This individual knew the victims," said Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse, Dallas Police Department. "He was either disgruntled at them or had problems with them."
According to Smith's family, Mustard walked into their office and said, 'You've taken all my money,' and opened fire.
Records show Mustard Jr. graduated from SMU, was licensed to practice law in 1979 and was once a judge in Denton County.
Early Monday morning, a person who made an initial call from inside the building to 911 hung up before information could be exchanged. A second call was made from someone who said an active shooter was inside the Four Forest building. According to sources, that second call was made by Chris Smith.
When officers arrived at the scene, the shooter was still inside the building.
"The suspect still had the weapon and was walking around looking for his two victims, who were hiding or scurrying around trying to hide from him," Janse said.
Police said the man pointed his weapon at officers, and they fired back. However, police said they missed the suspect, who then went into an office and shot himself in the head.
"I am standing at the security desk with the other security guards and we sat [Chris Smith] down," said one witness. "We didn't know he had been shot until we saw he had a hole or a stab wound ... like he had been shot in the neck. He was in shock, like we all were, and he said his dad had been killed, too. I thought he meant in the past, but he had actually been shot by the shooter."
Authorities said the father did survive. Both the father and son were taken to Parkland Hospital and were listed in stable condition. Mustard Jr. was taken to another hospital and is listed in critical condition.
In the midst of the shootings, about 16 bank employees at the United Texas Bank, located inside the building, locked themselves in a vault after hearing gun fire.
"The building has announced we should stay in here until they let us know otherwise," said Linda Farley, a bank employee talking on a phone from within the vault. "Everybody is a little scared."
All offices inside the 19-story building were locked down for several hours as authorities interviewed witnesses.
Surveillance video taken at a Dallas convenience store in recent weeks captured images of Mustard Jr. Store clerks said he came in the store regularly wearing tattered clothes and buying lottery tickets. They said he sometime hung out as long as 30 minutes during visits.
"[He] was relaxed, laid back," said Clayton Mitchell, a neighbor. "You used to see him drinking coffee at the store or out riding his bike."
Mustard's life derailed in 1985, which was when he was arrested for bribing a public official. According to The Dallas Morning News archives, Mustard was later convicted for fixing tickets for his clients using stolen computer codes. He served time in prison.
For the last decade, he's lived in a North Dallas apartment, where neighbors said police visited Monday shortly after the shooting.
Through a sliding glass door, trash, boxes and debris could be seen throughout his home.
"He didn't seem like he had a mean streak in him," Mitchell said.
WFAA's Rebecca Lopez, Jason Whitely and Craig Civale contributed to this report
