{"id":183496,"date":"2025-08-29T01:02:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T01:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183496\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T01:02:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T01:02:11","slug":"family-of-man-killed-by-dallas-police-said-he-needed-medical-mental-health-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/183496\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of man killed by Dallas Police said he needed medical, mental health help"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a man fatally shot in Far North Dallas<\/a> after police said he charged at SWAT officers with a knife said they called 911 in hopes of getting him mental health assistance after he cut himself hours earlier.<\/p>\n

Dallas police shot Martin Benes, 46, early Wednesday morning at a home in the 13800 block of Far Hills Lane. He was pronounced dead at the location around 1:30 a.m., according to Dallas County medical examiner\u2019s office records.<\/p>\n

In interviews with The Dallas Morning News at their home, the Benes family said they believe police should\u2019ve had more non-lethal options and mental health assistance before deciding to shoot Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought 911 would help us with him,\u201d Paul Benes, Martin\u2019s brother, said.<\/p>\n

Crime in The News<\/p>\n

Read the crime and public safety news your neighbors are talking about.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The police shooting, the sixth by Dallas officers this year, is the subject of investigations by the department\u2019s special investigations unit and the Dallas County district attorney\u2019s office. Police are planning a news conference about the shooting for Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Benes\u2019 mother, Judith Benes, said in an interview that she called 911 about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday after Martin cut himself as he attempted to take off an ankle monitor he received after a previous arrest earlier this year. <\/p>\n

Martin had alcoholism and episodes of depression, his father, Frank Benes, said in an interview. Martin\u2019s mental health worsened as he was restricted by the ankle monitor to stay at the home he shared with his father and mother, his father said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin was unstable in his state of mind,\u201d his father told The News.<\/p>\n

\u2018We need medical help\u2019<\/p>\n

Hours before the shooting, Martin threatened to hurt himself, Judith Benes said. In the past, they had never heard Martin threaten to hurt himself, his brother, Paul Benes, said. <\/p>\n

The initial call to police was classified as a crisis intervention team with an ambulance call, according to an active call list on the department\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really mentioned several times that we need medical help, that he is under alcohol influence, and said he basically needs help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

Martin Benes stands with his mother Judith Benes. Martin Benes died when he was shot by Dallas police in the 13800 block of Far Hills Lane on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Paul Benes \/ Paul Benes<\/p>\n

Police said Benes then charged at officers with the knife, causing the officers to grab his mother and retreat with her outside.<\/p>\n

Benes followed them outside before returning to the home to barricade himself inside, police said.<\/p>\n

The street became filled with officers, and a SWAT team was called.<\/p>\n

Benes went upstairs and was in his room by the time SWAT entered the home early Wednesday, his family said.<\/p>\n

They attempted to use \u201cless-than-lethal\u201d force to subdue Benes, including a Taser, police said. The Taser shots were \u201cineffective,\u201d and Benes charged at the SWAT officers, police said.<\/p>\n

Benes died at the scene despite medical efforts, Chief Daniel Comeaux said in brief remarks Wednesday at Jack Evans Police Headquarters.<\/p>\n

Paul and Judith Benes said they heard gunshots but weren\u2019t sure what had happened. They were told around 3 a.m. that Martin Benes had been killed.<\/p>\n

The family said they wanted Martin Benes to get help, so they called professionals. They believe violence was used too quickly instead.<\/p>\n

Who was Martin Benes?<\/p>\n

Benes was a funny guy who always made sure to help around the house, his father said. He had two children and worked as a business lawyer, Frank Benes said.<\/p>\n

Benes also has had his troubles, he said. Earlier this year, he was receiving treatment from Greenhouse Outpatient for alcohol addiction, his father said. He had been released and was staying home for a few days before going back.<\/p>\n

During the days he was home, Benes was arrested for a hit-and-run incident where he was accused of hitting a woman\u2019s car and then trying to hit her, according to an arrest warrant affidavit reviewed by The News. After he drove away, police were able to locate him in a parking lot, asleep, an officer wrote in the affidavit.<\/p>\n

When officers asked him to get out of his car, they said he did not. Officers struck Benes with Tasers, which the officer wrote he \u201cwas not fazed by.\u201d He was stunned five times before he was taken into custody and then to a hospital.<\/p>\n

Benes\u2019 attorney could not be located for a comment Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Benes also faced an aggravated assault charge after he was arrested days later, this time accused of aggravated assault of a family member causing serious bodily injury, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.<\/p>\n

Police said that during the standoff, officers discovered Martin Benes had an outstanding warrant in connection to a prior arrest, Comeaux said. A Dallas police spokesperson declined to provide additional information on the incident Thursday afternoon, citing the upcoming Friday news conference. The News is unable to independently verify details of the incident without additional information.<\/p>\n

\"Frank<\/p>\n

Frank Benes shows were his son, Martin Benes, was shot inside a home in 3800 block of Far Hills Lane. Martin Benes was fatally shot by Dallas police on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Timia Cobb \/ Timia Cobb<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Benes\u2019 father said he believes being constricted by the ankle monitor, his mental health and his alcoholism pushed him over the edge. But, shooting Martin Benes wasn\u2019t the answer, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of getting help from the 911 operator, they came and killed him,\u201d Frank Benes said.<\/p>\n

The family is physically unable to open the front door to the home due to damage from the incident, they said. For now, they\u2019re using the side door. Throughout the house, chemical smells still linger in the air, irritating the family\u2019s eyes and making it hard to breathe, they say. And upstairs, just a few steps from Martin\u2019s bedroom door, a large puddle of blood from when he was shot stained the carpet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a man fatally shot in Far North Dallas after police said he charged at SWAT…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,4219,1596,14842,24346,517,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-183496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-police","12":"tag-far-north-dallas","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115109360074446161","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}