Man shot into apartment, causing explosion

| October 21, 2021 | LOCAL, NEWS, police | No Comments
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FILE – In this Sept. 29, 2021, file photo, members of Dallas Fire and Rescue work on scene following an apartment explosion and fire on Highland Hills Drive in southeast Oak Cliff. A man faces felony charges after Dallas police say they connected him to an apartment explosion in Oak Cliff last month that injured several firefighters and civilians. Phillip Dankins, faces seven counts of deadly conduct. He has been in the Dallas County jail since early October on other charges; police said they obtained the deadly conduct warrants Tuesday Oct. 19, 2021. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)

DALLAS (AP) — Fire investigators believe a man shot into a Dallas apartment and hit a gas line, causing an explosion that injured seven people, including four firefighters, authorities said.

Police said Tuesday that Phillip Dankins, 28, faces seven felony counts of deadly conduct, according to the Dallas Morning News. They said in a statement that Dankins was associated with the Sept. 29 explosion but declined to provide details.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said investigators believe Dankins shot into an apartment and damaged a gas line connected to a stove.

Firefighters were investigating a report of a natural gas leak at the two-story complex the next morning, and reported smelling gas just before the blast partially collapsed the building, Dallas Fire-Rescue said in a statement.

One of the firefighters was released from the hospital last week. Two remain hospitalized.

It’s unclear what led to the shooting, but the mother of Dankins’ child lived at the complex, according to KTVT-TV.

Dankins has been in Dallas County Jail since early October on other charges. As of Tuesday, he was being held on $100,000 bail. But that does not include the charges of deadly conduct.

His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment by the Dallas Morning News.