Chief Eddie Garcia at press conference on Thursday, March 4.
The Dallas Police Department has arrested Officer Bryan Riser and charged him with two counts of capital murder. He is charged with two kidnappings and murders dating to February and March 2017.
A female victim, Liza Saenz, 31, may have been an ex-girlfriend. The motive is unknown in the murder of the second victim, Albert Douglas, whose body has not been found.
Riser was taken into custody this morning and transported to the Dallas County Jail for processing. At a 1 p.m. press conference, DPD Chief Eddie Garcia said Riser was awaiting transport to Lew Sterrett.
Garcia said the FBI was involved in the investigation.
Riser has been in the department since August 2008 and was assigned to the South-Central Patrol Division. He’s been on administrative leave pending the outcome of an Internal Affairs administrative investigation. At the press conference, Garcia said he would do everything he could to expedite Riser’s termination from the department.
Asked what he thought of something like this happening so soon into his tenure as chief, Garcia said, “It comes with the territory,” adding that it is important to find police who shouldn’t be wearing the uniform and remove them from the department.
— David Taffet
