DALLAS — Note: The video above was uploaded before the shooting victim was identified.
A 17-year-old was shot and killed in Old East Dallas on Wednesday, according to Dallas police.
The Dallas Police Department (DPD) said officers responded at approximately 9:10 p.m. Wednesday to the 600 block of N. Prairie Avenue regarding a someone lying unresponsive in the street. Police said the victim was reported by a driver passing by the location.
DPD identified the victim as 17-year-old Isaias Esquivel, who had been shot. He died at the scene, according to police.
Esquivel's body was found just one block away from his home, just steps from the neighborhood Boys and Girls Club.
Esquivel's family told WFAA he was walking home from a soccer game.
“He was a respectable and kind boy,” said Inocencia Marroquin, a friend of the family.
Esquivel is among the latest North Texas teens to fall victim to gun violence this year. Already this week, two students were shot at Lamar High School in Arlington. JaShawn Poirier, 16, was killed, and the 15-year-old shooter is facing capital murder charges in the case.
Last week, the family of Dadrien Harrison, 16, laid him to rest. Police said a 14-year-old shot and killed the Lake Highlands High School student at a complex near campus.
On Tuesday, March 21, another student was shot outside Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas.
"There was a parent there that had a tourniquet on already. He had taken his belt off and put a tourniquet on,” said band director Bob Romano.
The band director, an assistant athletic trainer, and an athletic trainer at Thomas Jefferson High School were among staffers who rushed to the injured student’s aid, as the shooting sent the campus into lockdown. The band director still gets choked up thinking about what he witnessed.
"It's coming from the kids. It's coming from me wanting these kids to catch a break,” Romano said, as he fought back tears.
There have been several shootings with multiple witnesses. They are violent crimes that are leaving families grieving and communities vulnerable.
“For the kids, I would tell them to think. To think! Make sure you're empathetic in every choice you make. Make sure you're thinking of others, and also making sure that it's relatable to you to understand, hey, is it worth it? Is it worth me? And is it worth them,” said Assistant Athletic Director Brandi Elder.
DPD is asking anyone with information regarding the investigation into Esquivel's shooting death to contact Homicide Detective Jacob White at 214-671-3690 or by email at jacob.white@dallascityhall.com. Reference case number 048644-2023.
Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information called into Crime Stoppers that leads to the arrest and indictment for this felony offense and other felony offenses. Call Crime Stoppers at 214-373-TIPS (8477), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
No further information was immediately available.
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