On November 24, 2025, Zemeid Cox, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed in a downtown Dallas parking lot outside the Hyde & Seek Lounge on the 2000 block of Commerce Street. In the early hours of the morning, Dallas police officers—both on-duty units from the Central Business District and Central Patrol, as well as off-duty officers working security—were already on scene because a disturbance inside the club had spilled into the surrounding area. Dallas Fire-Rescue had been called to treat a person injured in an earlier fight when the situation escalated again shortly after 2 a.m.
According to police, a man later identified as 31-year-old Kedric McDonald drew a handgun around 2:01 a.m. and fired multiple rounds into a vehicle where Cox was seated in the driver’s seat. The gunfire struck Cox and also hit three other men who were standing nearby in the crowded parking lot, sending people running for cover as car alarms blared and chaos unfolded. Cox was found unresponsive inside the vehicle, and officers immediately began life-saving efforts while other first responders tended to the additional shooting victims, who were later transported to local hospitals with what authorities described as non–life-threatening injuries.
Body-camera and surveillance footage released days later shows McDonald moving through the parking lot with a handgun after the initial volley of shots, as officers shout repeated commands for him to drop the weapon. Police say that instead of complying, he turned toward several officers, pointing the gun in their direction. At that point, two officers—identified by the department as Officers Charles Boyd and Hugo Oquedo—fired their duty weapons, striking McDonald. Despite emergency medical treatment, both McDonald and Cox were pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured during the incident.
Dallas police have characterized McDonald as the gunman responsible for killing Cox and wounding the three bystanders, and he is treated in official accounts as the primary suspect in the case. Because McDonald died in the officer-involved shooting, no arrests have been reported in connection with Cox’s killing, and police have not publicly identified any additional suspects. The incident remains under active investigation, including a standard review of the officers’ use of force by the department and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, which is examining body-camera footage, interviewing witnesses, and conducting forensic testing as part of its broader inquiry into the deadly confrontation.
