Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown says an officer who died while responding to a traffic accident is a “great guy.”
The chief made the comments Friday after a news conference in which the officer’s father spoke about the officer who was killed in the crash.
The Dallas Morning News first reported the officer was a white officer.
Brown said the officer, 26-year-old Anthony Williams, was a “nice, kind, caring young man” who was a partner with a young child.
He also said the shooting was a tragedy for the entire department.
Williams’ family said Friday that he was a dedicated police officer who would have turned to his life as a career, and would be remembered for his dedication to law enforcement and his family.
Williams was killed Friday morning in a crash in which a black car collided with a white vehicle and then ran a stop sign before crashing into a nearby home.
Police said Williams was on his way to a job interview when he lost control of the vehicle at the intersection of North and South Lamar Boulevard.
The officer, who was in his 40s, was driving his car westbound on Lamar when he hit the rear of a car that had been backing up, according to the Dallas Morning Star.
The driver of the car, who also was on Lamar, was also injured in the accident.
Both the driver and passenger were treated at the scene, and the officer and passenger escaped serious injury, according a statement from Dallas Police.
Williams also was wearing a body camera when he died, according the statement from the department.
Police said a traffic stop at that intersection resulted in Williams being pulled over and found to be in possession of a marijuana pipe.
A drug task force was formed, and Williams was taken into custody.
The Dallas Morning news first reported that Williams was a member of the Dallas Police Force.
Williams joined the Dallas-Fort Worth area department in August 2011.
He was in the department for a total of seven years.
Brown told reporters that the Dallas police department has a “long history of dealing with and dealing with trauma, and we’re not going to be able to heal this until we’re able to deal with that.”