DALLAS COUNTY, Texas — On June 12, 2019, a Farmers Branch police sting became the center of a deadly officer-involved shooting investigation.
Officer Michael Dunn, then 43, opened fire at a stolen vehicle in a Northwest Dallas shopping center. He shot and killed 35-year-old Juan Moreno Jr., the suspect police were tracking.
Two weeks after the incident in 2019, a Dallas County grand jury indicted Michael Dunn on a murder charge. Dunn was booked into Seagoville Jail and bonded out.
He was with the Farmers Branch Police Department for nearly 13 years at the time of this incident. According to the department's police chief, Dunn remains on administrative leave.
A federal case was later filed against Dunn in June 2021.
More than four years since the incident, Dunn, now 47, faces his murder trial this week.
The defendant elected for his case to be tried in front of a judge, without a jury. Judge Michael Snipes is presiding over this case.
On Monday morning, officers who were on the scene that day took the witness stand.
They recall the operation on a stolen vehicle found near Moreno’s house. The officers confirm Moreno was a known truck thief out of Farmers Branch. They put a tracker on the allegedly stolen white pickup truck.
Surveillance footage from local businesses and police radio traffic was played during their testimony.
Videos show Moreno, in a red shirt, exiting a game room and walking with two others to a white pickup truck. The three individuals get into the vehicle, and Officer Dunn’s vehicle quickly pulls up near the suspect vehicle with sirens on.
In the footage, as Dunn exits his squad car, the truck peels out, causing black smoke to rise. As the vehicle whips around Dunn, the officer grabs his gun and fires at the suspect. Video then shows the pickup crashing into other cars, as Moreno was struck by Dunn’s bullet.
From the moment the truck sped out to when the shots were fired was fast, around nine seconds.
Prosecutors argue that others could have been injured when Dunn fired his weapon.
Dunn’s defense attorney argue that Dunn’s life was in danger. His decision to fire his gun had to be made in a split second.
During testimony, Dr. Tracy Dyer, then medical examiner, confirmed Moreno had a large amount of methamphetamine in his system. Dr. Dyer said Moreno had a gunshot wound to the head, which is the bullet that killed him. A second bullet hit his hand. A third bullet grazed Moreno.
Nearly every seat of the courtroom on Monday was filled with people. Many law enforcement officers watched the testimony, as did Moreno’s family.