Police Shooting in Dallas
Introduction to the Incident
Hours after his mother called 911 to report he was suicidal and threatening to “kill everyone,” a Dallas police SWAT team quietly entered the family’s home early Wednesday morning and peeked into Martin Benes’ upstairs bedroom, where he lay wrapped in a bedsheet, facing away from the officers.
Police said they tried multiple methods to coax Benes outside the Far North Dallas home. Inside the room, officers shone flashlights on him as he lay on the bed, noticed a knife by him and whispered a plan to try a Taser. That was ineffective, police said, and when Benes stood and moved toward the officers with the knife, they fatally shot him.
The moments leading up to the shooting were captured in edited body-worn camera footage shown by Dallas police at a Friday news conference. Benes, 46, died at the scene. The police shooting, the department’s sixth this year, will be reviewed by the special investigations unit and the Dallas County district attorney’s office.
“I think officers did everything to keep everyone safe in Dallas,” Chief Daniel Comeaux said of the police while fielding questions from reporters at the Friday news conference.
Criticism from the Family
The outcome has drawn criticism from Benes’ family, including his mother, who called authorities. In interviews with The Dallas Morning News, family members argued police should have used more nonlethal tactics and accounted for Benes’ distressed mental state before resorting to gunfire.
His family also acknowledged Benes suffered from alcoholism and episodes of depression, was intoxicated and had been brandishing a knife, which he had used to cut himself free of an ankle monitor he’d been ordered to wear after an arrest earlier this year.
Earlier this year, Benes was arrested after he was accused of hitting a woman’s car and then trying to hit her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
After he drove away, police located Benes in a parking lot and, when he refused to get out of his car, officers used a Taser on him, the affidavit says.
Days later, after posting bond, Benes was arrested again. He was accused of aggravated assault of a family member causing serious bodily injury with a knife, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
An Hours-Long Effort
Dallas police were sent to the home in the 13800 block of Far Hills Lane after Benes’ mother, Judith Benes, called 911 at about 7:35 p.m. Tuesday to report Benes had been drinking alcohol and had a knife. Police released an edited recording of the 911 call in which his mother said Benes was suicidal.
Paul Benes also texted 911, writing, in part, “I’m concerned for my brother. He is acting very erratically. He’s trying to kill herself [sic]. My mom can’t reason with him and she in danger herself but unable to leave her home.”
In the video, officers arrive and knock on the front door, announcing they are police. Judith Benes answers, body-worn camera footage shows, and says “medical.” The officer motions her outside before leaning inside and calling Benes’ name.
Martin Benes appears down the hallway from the door, saying, “No, you guys stay away from me.” The officers draw their sidearms, the footage shows, and retreat outside, commanding him to drop the knife.
Martin Benes walks outside for a moment before turning back into the house and shutting the door behind him, his mother still standing on the porch. The officers instruct her to come out toward the lawn, motioning her away as she says, “Please, no. It’s OK.”
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux speaks during a news conference at Dallas police headquarters, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Dallas, providing an update on the officer-involved shooting on Aug 27 in 13800 block of Far Hills Lane.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
Events Leading to the Shooting
Speaking with The News, Judith Benes said her son cut himself while attempting to take off his ankle monitor. When officers learned he had removed his ankle monitor, Comeaux said, police obtained a warrant for his arrest, citing a violation of bond conditions tied to a prior aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge.
A department RIGHT Care Unit — which consists of police officers, a mental health clinician and a paramedic — was called to the home as well, Comeaux said. The chief said police tried multiple times to draw him outside, including calling out to him, having his mother call out, calling his cell phone, deploying gas and sending in a remote-controlled drone.
During the news conference, Comeaux said of RIGHT Care, “When it’s a violent suspect like that, there’s only so much that they can do.”
Once officers obtained the warrant, police called SWAT to the home, Comeaux said. The SWAT team arrived just after 11 p.m., according to a department news release.
SWAT leaders decided to enter and try to arrest Benes, entering the home after 1:20 a.m. The body-worn camera footage shows officers slowly climbing the stairs to one of the second-floor rooms, where Benes was lying on the bed.
