Dallas police officer arrested on two counts of capital murder

DALLAS — Officers arrested a 13-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department on Thursday morning to face capital murder charges in a pair of cases dating back to 2017, Chief Eddie Garcia said.

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Authorities took Officer Bryan Riser into custody Thursday morning after he was implicated in the 2017 deaths of a woman, Lisa Saenz, and a man, Albert Douglas. Investigators believe the pair were kidnapped and killed in separate incidents directed by Riser.

In 2019, a witness came forward to report that Riser had instructed him to kidnap and kill Douglas and Saenz, Garcia said. The chief said the killings were related to Riser’s off-duty conduct and not his police work.

Officers found Saenz dead of multiple gunshot wounds in the Trinity River late on March 10, 2017. Police arrested three suspects, identified as Kevin Kidd, Emmanuel Kilpatrick and Jermon Simmons, on capital murder charges related to her death.

Douglas’ body has not been found. Family members reported him missing in February 2017, Garcia said.

On Thursday, officials continued working to determine the motive behind the killings. At least one of the victims was an acquaintance of Riser’s, according to the chief.

Officials with the FBI are also investigating the murders.

Riser has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation. Garcia said officials were working “as quickly as possible and moving forward toward termination” of Riser’s employment.

“The actions that have been investigated in no way reflect the actions of the men and women who proudly wear this uniform,” Garcia said, adding that Riser “has no business wearing this uniform.”

“There’s an old adage in police work that says that no one hates a bad cop more than a good cop,” he said. “We hire individuals from the human race, and when we find individuals such as this, it’s the actions that we take afterwards that we should be judged by.”

Riser was assigned to Dallas’ South Central patrol division. In 2017, police arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of assault family violence causing bodily injury following a fight with a former girlfriend, The Dallas Morning News reported. Garcia said an internal affairs investigation was launched after that incident, although he declined Thursday to share results of the review.

Authorities continue to investigate.

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