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Dallas officer arrested on 2 counts of capital murder

DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas police officer was arrested Thursday on two counts of capital murder in two unconnected 2017 killings that weren’t related to his police work, authorities said.

Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the force, was taken into custody Thursday morning and brought to the Dallas County Jail for processing, according to a statement from the police department. A lawyer for him couldn’t immediately be identified.

Riser was arrested in connection with two unconnected killings in 2017, police Chief Eddie Garcia said during a news conference. He said the deaths were related to Riser’s off-duty conduct, and not his job, and that Riser was identified as a suspect in 2019.

“We received information through a witness that implicated Riser in both murders,” Garcia said.

Riser joined the department in 2008 and was working as a patrol officer before his arrest. Police said he has been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation.

“We’re going to expedite our process so this individual is no longer with the department,” Garcia said.

“We will not allow anyone to tarnish this badge,” the chief said, noting that the FBI was assisting in the investigation.

Riser had not been booked into the jail as of early Thursday afternoon, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office said her office didn’t have information on the case.

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