‘Collective heartbreak’: Dallas police officer killed in Oak Cliff shooting remembered

The Dallas police officer killed in a southeast Oak Cliff shooting Thursday night has been identified by family as a former school teacher who’d just completed police training.
Darron Burks, 46, was fatally wounded in the gunfire, his mother, Cherie Jeffrey, told The Dallas Morning News when reached by phone Friday morning. Jeffrey said she was notified by officers at her home.
Two other officers, who have not been publicly identified, were injured in crossfire at theFor Oak Cliff community center, according to Dallas police. Their conditions were not immediately known Friday morning.
Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua said he was told surveillance video showed Burks was killed while in his patrol car and had no interaction with the shooter beforehand. Bazaldua told The News it appeared to a “completely senseless act.” Dallas police said at a news conference Thursday night that an officer was found shot in a marked patrol vehicle.
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Burks graduated from Richardson ISD’s Lake Highlands High School in May 1998, spokesman Tim Clark confirmed in a text message. He attended Tyler Junior College and earned a bachelor’s degree from Paul Quinn College, where he played football and served as president of his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, according to his LinkedIn profile and Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records. Burks previously taught math at Texans Can Academies.
He was awarded his peace officer license in November, according to his TCOLE record.
“The loss of Officer Burks is devastating,” council member Gay Donnell Willis said in a text message to The News. “Today’s sad news should serve as a reminder for Dallas residents not to take these brave souls, who serve us tirelessly everyday, for granted.”
Apryl Washington Goree remembers walking through Paul Quinn College and meeting Darron Burks for the first time. He was a student, pledging Omega Psi Phi. She was working on the campus and a member of the sister sorority.
Almost immediately, she said, “we just became big sister, little brother.”
He stood by her side at her wedding. He helped her grieve the passing of her mother. When she battled breast cancer, he texted her Bible scriptures.
They worked together at Texans Can Academies, a charter school that helps students recover credits so they can graduate. Burks would give up his lunch break to help kids who needed extra one-on-one time, Washington Goree recalls.
One of those students was Justine Turk. Now 34, she met Burks as a teenager. Turk said she grew up without a consistent father figure — and her math teacher helped fill that hole, providing that “father love.”
“Him just letting me know how proud he was — constantly, constantly — it just really gave me the push to keep on going,” she said.
Turk was always good at math, and Burks noticed. She remembers the day he turned to her and said: “You’re going to teach the class today.”
Turk thought he was joking, but he shot her his serious face. “He was trying to make me see that I could be a leader,” Turk said.
After years in the classroom, Burks decided to pursue policing.
“He loved helping kids, but he wanted to help the community versus just the classroom. He wanted to help on a broader spectrum,” Washington Goree said. She begged him not to go.
He recently sent Washington Goree a video, inviting her to his graduation ceremony. “This has been a heck of a journey,” he told her.
Then another video. He recorded it in his police uniform. “Hey what’s going on sis,” he says in the recording. “Letting you know I miss you.”
Burks also worked with Boy Scouts of America, serving as a troop guide for an adult leadership course run by the organization.
Kirstin Dodd Baum, 34, was part of Burks’ patrol during a 2017 scouting trip. She could tell he was a teacher because he was excellent at explaining things to the group.
During one of the hikes, Dodd Baum started struggling. Burks turned to her and said: “You can do hard things.”
With his words motivating her, she made it to the top.
In the years since, Burks became the kind of friend that Dodd Baum could call at 2 a.m. if she was in a dark place.
“He would answer, every time,” she said.
Burks was there to support her after her father died, when he repeated the phrase that she will carry with her: You can do hard things.
Other friends of Burks recounted similar moments when he would show up for them in low moments.
“Anytime I had a loss in my family, I’d look up and he’s walking through the door,” said Raja Muhammad, 52, who knew Burks at Paul Quinn and co-taught with him at Texans Can.
When Muhammad runs into former students, they ask without fail: “Hey, you still cool with Mr. Burks?” The kids related to him and looked up to him, she said.
“He didn’t talk at them,” she said. “He talked with them.”
Muhammad said Burks loved the Lord but wasn’t preachy. Through his actions, she said, he walked the walk of righteousness.
“Everyone knew he wasn’t going to take a drink. Everyone knew he wasn’t going to take a smoke,” she said. “He’d get his cup of cranberry juice or spite and have a good time. He always made his way to the dance floor to do a hop or step for us.”
Like his other friends, she treasures the personal video messages he sent her, full of updates on his life and reminders of his love.
“I’m just so happy we have those memories to hold onto,” she said. “There’s a collective heartbreak in the city of Dallas right now. I miss my friend.”
A candlelight vigil at the community center is scheduled Friday evening at For Oak Cliff community center, social media posts say.
Dozens of police units responded about 10:10 p.m. to the 900 block of East Ledbetter Drive, near South Marsalis Avenue, according to an online police call log.
Officers found the officer shot in his marked patrol vehicle, Dallas police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said. Police then exchanged gunfire with a suspect, injuring the two other officers, Lowman said.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, drove away toward Lewisville and was pursued by Dallas police officers in the northbound lane of Interstate 35E.
The suspect got out of the vehicle with a long gun, Dallas police said in a news release. Shots were fired and the suspect was killed just north of State Highway 121 Business, according to a post by the Lewisville police.
Four Dallas police officers have been killed in the line of duty since the July 7, 2016, ambush in downtown Dallas. Ninety-three Dallas officers have died in the line of duty since 1892, according to a police website.
Staff writers Aria Jones, Kelli Smith, Sue Ambrose, Devyani Chhetrl, Everton Bailey Jr. and digital archivist Jennifer Brancato contributed to this report.