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This aerial view shows the scene where a Dallas police officer was fatally wounded in a gunbattle Friday.

A 33-year-old Dallas police officer died Friday evening after he was involved in a shootout in a West Dallas neighborhood.

Senior Cpl. Mark T. Nix, who joined the department six years ago, reportedly died at Parkland Memorial Hospital after he was shot in the neck and chest. The suspect also was shot and is being treated at Parkland.

Nix is the 77th Dallas police officer to be killed in the line of duty.

The shootout occurred in the 4100 block of Bernal Drive after a short police chase on Mockingbird Lane.

After the suspect wrecked, he started shooting at police officers.

"The shootout lasted about a minute," said one police officer.

At least two dozen Dallas squad cars converged on the scene. Officers appeared to be clearing homes in the West Dallas residential neighborhood.

Police say the suspect may have been high on meth.

Police initially thought the car of the suspect matched the description of one seen fleeing the robbery and murder of a 21-year-old man at a Southeast Oak Cliff dope house two days earlier.

However, they now say that suspect is African American, while tonight's suspect is white or Hispanic.

Nix was bleeding so badly after being shot that fellow officers drove him to the hospital.

That's where many of them are gathered tonight, trying to console each other and to offer support to Nix's relatives.

The department was providing counseling for the officers. At one point shortly after nightfall near Parkland's emergency entrance, three female officers came out and began talking. As one listened, she covered her mouth and shook her head back and forth.

"It's just a very hard time for us," said Sgt. Cerda, a Dallas police spokesman. "We lost a fellow officer and fellow employee. It hurts. It just hurts."

Most of the officers involved in this work wear body armor, he said.

"I couldn't say if this officer was wearing body armor or not."

Nix fought in the First Gulf War as a medic for the marines.

When he returned home, he joined the Dallas police force.

When a suspected murderer took a woman hostage at a Dallas Raddison hotel, Nix was part of the squad that tried to rescue her.

In the middle of the melee, another officer, Jeremy Borchardt got shot.

Nix was one of several who helped pull him to safety.

"I ask that this city pray for us," said First Assistant Chief David Brown, who said he's spoken with Cpl. Nix's family, including his fiancée.

"Officer Nix will be sorely missed," Chief Brown said. "He died giving his life for the … safety of the city and its citizens."

WFAA-TV reporters Rebecca Lopez, Craig Civale and Gary Reaves and The Dallas Morning News contributed to this story.