What happened at ilume

On Sunday afternoon, a team of cop cars surrounded the ilume building and the Facebook posts began.

A Facebook screenshot of one of my neighbor’s posts about the ilume SWAT raid.

The rumors got pretty ridiculous – ranging from a domestic violence dispute to assault.

Here’s what actually happened, according to the Dallas Police Department:

“On Sunday, December 4, 2016, at approximately 4:10 p.m., Dallas police officers received a call regarding a major disturbance call in the 4100 block of Cedar Springs Road. A witness called police and informed 911 call takers that the suspect came to her apartment about 3:00 p.m. and knocked on the complainant’s door. The witness informed suspect he was not allowed at the location and the suspect left when the witness called for police.

The suspect became upset and went into a neighbor’s residence, called the victim, and stated he had possession of a weapon. Upon officers’ arrival, the suspect was no longer at or near the location. This incident is documented on case number 289102-2016.”

In other words: someone’s crazy ex arrived at ilume, was told to go away, made a threat, and then left before the cops arrived.

This fairly mundane (and common) situation was blown out of proportion in part because the ilume management company failed to update residents on what happened until this afternoon. The delay in communication allowed rumors to fester and left all of us feeling a little less safe.

I don’t think it’s necessary for the building to send a mass email every time a police officer is called. However, when multiple cop cars arrive and there’s an officer walking around with a rifle, then a courtesy update would be nice.