Police identify suspect accused in Arlington Vandergriff Honda shooting

Arlington police have identified the suspect accused of opening fire Thursday night at Vandergriff Honda in Arlington.

Abbas Al-Mutairy, 25, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said Friday morning. More charges are possible, pending results of the criminal investigation.

Al-Mutairy is listed in critical condition at a hospital, according to officials.

Al-Mutairy was shot by officers and taken into custody after he allegedly opened at the Vandergriff Honda dealership, 1104 W. Interstate 20, where he used to work before he was terminated, police said.

Panicked customers and employees scrambled to take cover. No one besides the suspect was injured in the shooting.

Arlington police responded to the Honda dealership, along the frontage road between Cooper Street and Matlock Road, about 6:30 p.m. after receiving reports of an armed man in the parking lot firing shots at the building. They immediately spotted the gunaman and multiple officers fired at him, police said.

The suspect was firing his gun when officers arrived, according to police spokesperson Sgt. Courtney White, but she didn’t know whether he shot at the officers. It’s unknown whether he was targeting a specific person or people, the police spokesperson said.

One witness, Samuel Hartman, told the Star-Telegram that he arrived at the dealership in the afternoon to get his car serviced and ended up hiding under a truck in the garage as shots rang out.

Hartman said he had been walking outside while waiting for his car. When when he opened the door to go back to the service area, he heard loud sounds and people “were freaking out” and yelling, “Get to safety!”

He said he called 911 while taking cover with two women under the truck. It sounded like the shooter was nearby.

An employee told KXAS-TV that the gunman was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. Sgt. White said callers described the weapon as a shotgun but she could not confirm what type of gun it was.

A manager who had a handgun told the man to leave and they began shooting at each other before officers arrived, the employee told the NBC station.

Hartman said he saw several officers arrive and said it sounded like police exchanged fire with the gunman.

Soon afterward, police told everyone to run to where other customers and employees were gathered, Hartman said.

“One of the employees picked me up because it was kind of oily and it was tough for me to get myself up, and he gave me a piggyback ride,” he said.

Hartman said he “finally saw the guy that was apprehended,” who he described as “bloodied up.”

Witnesses were told to stay at the scene as the investigation continued and were still waiting at the dealership after 9 p.m., Hartman said.

Another customer who was test driving a car told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that she saw the gunman and heard dozens of shots.

The witness told WFAA that she and her husband ran down the street to take cover and hid along with employees from the dealership.

There will be a criminal investigation to review the shooting and an administrative investigation to determine whether policies were followed, which is standard department procedure when an officer fires their service weapon, Arlington police said.

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