Roderick Butler: Family of fatally-shot army veteran pleads for justice as police seek public’s help to identify suspect

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

DALLAS, TEXAS: According to authorities, a 46-year-old man was shot and murdered on Wednesday, December 20, in Uptown Dallas, close to a Wells Fargo branch.

Authorities say the incident took place in the 2200 block of McKinney Avenue, close to the Maple-Routh Connection, at approximately 5 pm on Wednesday.

Police identified the victim as Roderick Butler. He was found shot on the sidewalk at the location, police said.

Butler's mother mourns his death

"I just can’t believe this," Butler's mother, Tonie, told WFAA on Thursday, 21.

Butler was an artist who loved to rap and draw, his family said. In addition, he was an army veteran who experienced PTSD and homelessness after leaving the military. Butler, according to his mother, had only recently begun to improve his condition.

"He was living in an apartment, becoming independent, he was so happy," she said. "And it was taken away from him."

Investigators confirmed the suspect was also homeless, and that an AR-15 gun was used to kill Butler. The weapon was not located at the scene, which means the suspect could still be armed.

“Absolutely a possibility and it’s something we are considering, but it’s part of the ongoing investigation,” said Jesse Carr, the Senior PIO for the Dallas Police Department.

"They need to find this person to stop him so he don’t hurt anybody else. And he could come back, and it be somebody else. This time it was Roderick. They need help, they need to not be out on the street, pay the consequences for what [they] did, because it’s only fair," Butler's mother said.

"If you got a crazy person out there shooting people at random that’s not safe for nobody," Roderick's brother Brent told WFAA. "We forgive him," Brent continued. "But we want him to get off the streets to get the help he needs, that way he won’t do it to nobody else."

Authorities are calling shooting an isolated incident

As per reports, police are asking for the public’s help with the investigation. “We encourage anyone who heard something or may have seen something to come forward and share that information with us," police said. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Swanson at 469-934-5776 or at laurent.swanson@dallaspolice.gov.

Additionally as per Star Telegram, the suspect, who was photographed by Dallas police on Thursday, is depicted as a man wearing a dark jacket with yellow fluorescent material over a grey hooded jacket. He is carrying an AR-15-style gun, has blue gloves on, and has his lower face covered.