Dallas police say two men were arrested after videos showed rifles being fired from the Margaret McDermott Bridge over Interstate 30 just after midnight on New Year’s Day, turning one of downtown’s busiest celebration spots into the center of a criminal investigation. The case quickly drew attention across North Texas because the footage did not show random gunfire in an empty area. It showed weapons being fired from a bridge crowded with stopped vehicles and people gathered to watch the holiday fireworks near downtown Dallas. Within weeks, the investigation had produced local arrests, recovered firearms, and a separate federal charge against one of the men seen in the video.
Arrests followed viral footage from the bridge
Dallas police announced Jan. 29 that Anthony Acevedo, 20, and Jose Alarcon-Sanchez, 18, both of Grand Prairie, were arrested in connection with the New Year’s gunfire on the Margaret McDermott Bridge west of downtown. Police said both men were seen in widely circulated social media videos firing weapons from the bridge. According to Dallas police, both were charged with discharge of a firearm in certain municipalities, a Class A misdemeanor under Texas law. Police said Acevedo was later released on bond, while Alarcon-Sanchez remained in custody on an immigration hold.
What investigators say they recovered
Dallas police said detectives launched what the department described as an aggressive investigation with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The department said officers recovered more than 100 shell casings near the scene, underscoring how extensive the gunfire appears to have been. A later federal press release added more detail. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said Dallas officers recovered 79 fired 5.56/.223 casings and four 9 mm casings from the area where the two men were allegedly shooting, along with additional casings found under the bridge.
One suspect now faces a separate federal charge
On Jan. 31, federal prosecutors announced that Jose Raul Alarcon-Sanchez had been charged by federal complaint with unlawful firearm possession as a person allegedly in the country without legal status. Prosecutors said court records showed he entered the United States in May 2025 on a temporary visitor visa and remained after it expired. Federal authorities allege that just after midnight on Jan. 1, Alarcon-Sanchez and another man stood on the bridge among numerous stopped cars and people there for the downtown fireworks and took turns filming each other while shooting black rifles over the bridge. The complaint is an allegation, not a conviction, and Alarcon-Sanchez is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court. CBS Texas reported that investigators also found live rounds and an AK-47-style rifle in a vehicle associated with Alarcon-Sanchez after a separate New Year’s Day encounter in Grand Prairie. That detail helps explain why the federal case moved quickly once agencies began comparing evidence.
Why the bridge setting made the case so serious
Celebratory gunfire is a recurring New Year’s problem in large American cities, but this episode stood out because of where it happened. The Margaret McDermott Bridge was not an isolated stretch of roadway. It was a visible gathering point near downtown, with traffic below and people nearby as fireworks lit the skyline.
Police and federal authorities have both framed the shooting as conduct that put a large number of people at risk, not just a reckless stunt caught on camera. U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said the behavior created tremendous danger to countless lives on the bridge that night, while Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux said the department would identify and hold accountable people who put lives at risk in the city.
What comes next
For now, the bridge case is moving on two tracks. At the local level, Dallas police have identified Acevedo and Alarcon-Sanchez as the two men arrested in connection with the gunfire on the bridge. At the federal level, Alarcon-Sanchez alone has been named in the firearm possession complaint announced by the Justice Department. KERA reported that the two bridge suspects were accused of gunfire from the I-30 bridge during a crowded downtown New Year’s gathering, reinforcing how closely the public story and the criminal case now track each other.
