A former member of the Dallas Mavericks all-male dance team, the Mavs ManiAACs, is in custody in connection with two separate shootings that left four women dead and four children injured late Wednesday night. Police are also investigating if a grenade or explosive device was used in one of the attacks.
DeSoto police took 44-year-old Erbie Bowser into custody at about 11 p.m. after responding to both a 911 call and a call from the Dallas Police Department related to a home on the 100 block of Galleria Drive.
Warren Mitchell, with the Dallas Police Department, said Dallas officers were called to a report of a shooting on the 7100 block of Long Canyon Trail at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Mitchell said officers arrived at the home and found four people had been shot, two fatally.
During a news conference Thursday morning, Dallas police said while investigating the shooting they were quickly able to identify a person of interest, as well as a connection to a residence on the 100 block of Galleria Drive in DeSoto. Dallas police notified the DeSoto police of their investigation and said officers were headed to the residence on Galleria Drive. At about that same time, DeSoto officers were dispatched to the Galleria Drive home after a child inside the residence called 911.
According to DeSoto police's Cpl. Melissa Franks, DeSoto officers arrived at the Galleria Drive home at about 10:45 p.m. and found four gunshot victims, two of which were deceased. A fifth person inside the DeSoto home, later identified by police as Bowser, was not injured and was taken into custody.
Family members at both scenes identified the two women killed in Dallas as Bowser's girlfriend, 43-year-old Toya Smith, and her daughter, 17-year-old Mia Allen. In DeSoto, the victims were identified as Bowser's ex-wife, Zina Bowser, and her daughter Niema Williams.
The four surviving victims of the shootings, who are all receiving treatment at area hospitals, are all children. The survivors from the Dallas shooting include Toya Smith's 14-year-old son Storm and a 17-year-old girl named Dazmine. The survivors of the DeSoto shooting include Zina Teal's two sons, 13-year-old Chris White and 11-year-old Miles White. A 3-year-old boy, Cohlin Williams, was inside the DeSoto home at the time of the shooting but was not injured.
Lurlean Smith, Toya's mother, confirmed to NBC 5 that Bowser was in a relationship with her daughter and said that her 14-year-old grandson Storm was taken from the home by the shooter after he was shot. The child is now hospitalized.
Smith told NBC 5 she was on the phone with Toya just minutes before the shooting happened Wednesday night and believed something was wrong. She went to the Dallas home to check on the situation and said she could hear Toya moaning and gasping for breath through the window. Dazmine, who was also shot, managed to open the door to the home. Smith said she found Mia shot in the back of the head and believes she was trying to run away from her attacker. Smith said she believes all the victims tried to escape from the violence.
"Her door was open. The car was open. Evidently they were trying to get away," Smith said.
Tommy Johnson, who lives near the home on Galleria Drive, said he heard a loud boom Wednesday night coming from the direction of the home where the victims were later found.
"We thought it was coming from upstairs, because the kids are always upstairs making noise," Johnson said. "I went up and asked, `Did y'all hear anything?' and one of my daughters said it came from outside. So I peeped out the front and that's when I saw a bunch of officers walking down the sidewalk and about 10 houses up."
Franks said she could not confirm that a grenade or other explosive device had been used in the DeSoto shooting and, during a news conference Thursday morning, referred all questions about the use of an explosive to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Bowser was part of the Dallas Mavericks "Mavs ManiAACs" male dance team, though, according to the Mavericks, he left the squad after seven seasons in 2009 and the organization hasn't had any contact with him since. On his archived ManiAAcs biography web page, Bowser described himself as a special education teacher.
The Mesquite Independent School District confirmed Bowser was once employed as a special education teacher and a volunteer coach in the district from 2001 to 2010. According to the district, he worked at Mesquite Academy, Berry Middle School and West Mesquite High School until he resigned in 2010. The district said Bowser was not terminated.
Police said Bowser is being held at the DeSoto Jail and that further details will be released after he is officially charged. Police in Dallas and DeSoto, as well as agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the ATF are assisting in the investigation.
NBC 5 reporters Kendra Lyn and Jeff Smith contributed to this report.
More Dallas-Fort Worth-Area Stories:
- Babysitter Accused of Using Facebook While Child Drowned
- Woman Says She Was Harassed on Flight for Breastfeeding
- Rookie Officer in Shooting Rejected by FWPD Twice
- Olive Garden, Red Lobster Owner: Texas Salad Is Safe