DALLAS — It was a senseless murder at a gas pump after two men got into a fight.
"They got out of the car, and they started fighting and a gun was pulled, and he shot him,” said Evelynn Porter, victim’s girlfriend.
Andy Rangel, 24, is one of three people killed in Dallas since Saturday morning.
"He didn’t deserve to go like that, as my sister-in-law says, he deserves justice,” said Porter.
Dallas homicides are up. There are 12 more homicides this year than the same time last year.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said it is a challenging time, especially after two straight years in violent crime reductions.
“Obviously, after these last two years of success that we have had, there are going to be challenging moments. There are going to be challenging weekends,” said Garcia.
He said the department is swamped with calls.
Priority one calls, which are the most serious calls, are up 8%. Priority 2 calls are up 4%.
Meanwhile, Garcia said there is a staffing shortage. The department needs at least 250 more officers on patrol.
“But, ultimately, when you continue to look at the importance of staffing, I mean, I don’t’ want to look at it and be the frog in the boiling pot and not understand when you are boiling,” said Garcia.
Right now, the Dallas Police Department has close to 3,200 officers. In comparison, in 2005, the department had nearly 3,800 officers.
“The impacts on the department on increasing while staff is decreasing,” said Garcia.
WFAA asked the Garcia if he planned to adjust his crime plan to deal with the uptick in homicides. The plan focuses on putting officers in hotspots where there is more violence.
Garcia said he plans to stay the course.
"If it wasn’t for those efforts, we would be much worse off than we are now. We use data and will continue to use data," he said.
Garcia said he understands the communities’ concerns and will continue to try and determine where his officers are needed in hopes of preventing the next violent incident from happening.
“We are playing seven-person baseball. I can’t think of a better analogy," Garcia said. "We are using data as best we can to set our fielders up in positions and using data to try and guess where the hitter is going to hit the baseball, but we will get hit in places we are not."