In an Oak Cliff parking lot turned memorial, two families united to honor Darron Burks, a man who left an indelible mark in both the fraternity brotherhood and the world of law enforcement.

“This crowd speaks highly of him and everyone knows what Brother Burks stood for. He was a pure guy. He was very pure,” said Kenneth McCloud.

Dozens gathered in the For Oak Cliff parking lot on Friday for a candlelight vigil to remember Burks, who was gunned down just feet from where he was standing just a few nights earlier.

“It hurts. I think I’m cried out today,” said Fredrick Bishop.

Bishop first met Burks through the brotherhood of Omega Psi Phi.

Although they never crossed paths at Paul Quinn College, as alumni, they both shared a commitment to their fraternity’s mission of service.

At a homecoming a couple of years ago, Bishop said that shared passion for helping others further bonded the friends when Burks sought Bishop’s help joining the Dallas Police Department.

After more than 20 years, Bishop is honorably retired from the force.

“He got to the point where he said let me see where I can do more and he wanted to serve more,” he said.

At Friday’s vigil, the men and women of Burks’s police academy class stood shoulder to shoulder with his fraternity brothers and those who knew him from his nearly two decades-long career as an educator and coach.

As they lit candles and shared stories and prayers, loved ones encouraged each other to focus on memories of good times rather than dwelling in sadness.

It’s just one of the ways they said their friend and brother would want to be remembered.

“Work to continue his vision. His vision of service to young people. His service to making a mark here in this city,” said Dallas City Council member Carolyn King Arnold.

A Dallas police officer was killed in a shooting in southeast Oak Cliff on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, his mother confirmed to The Dallas Morning News that her son Darron Burks, 46, was the officer fatally shot outside the “For Oak Cliff” community center.

Two other officers were wounded in the shooting and are hospitalized. One was in critical condition and the other was listed as stable on Friday morning, Dallas police spokesperson Kristin Lowman said.

Here’s how the events unfolded late Thursday and early Friday:

Thursday, Aug. 29

10:10 p.m.: Dozens of units respond to an assist officer call in the 900 block of East Ledbetter Drive, near South Marsalis Avenue, according to an online police call log. (The News counted more than 95 units ultimately responded to the shooting.)

Responding officers find an officer shot in his marked patrol vehicle, Lowman confirms at a news conference early Friday. They exchange gunfire with a shooter, and two other officers are shot.

10:35: p.m.: Police pursuit of a suspect enters Lewisville, according to Lewisville Police Department spokesperson Rachel Roberts.

10:38 p.m.: The chase ends in the northbound lane of Interstate 35E just north of State Highway 121 Business.

The suspect exited a vehicle with a long gun, Lowman said, and Dallas officers shot and killed him.

Friday, Aug. 30

12:20 a.m.: In a post on Facebook, the Lewisville Police Department confirms that none of its officers were involved in the chase.

12:28 a.m.: In a post on X, DPD announces it is investigating an officer-involved shooting.

1:15 a.m.: Dozens of Dallas police officers stand quietly outside the emergency room entrance to Methodist Dallas Medical Center. Squad cars line the block leading up to the hospital, their emergency lights flashing.

Photos: Police officers gather outside Methodist Hospital emergency room

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3:15 a.m.: DPD holds a news conference outside Methodist hospital and confirm the shooting, the chase and the officer’s death.

“Our department is hurting,” Lowman said. “We ask tonight and this morning for the thoughts and prayers of our city, for not only those who are recovering in the hospital, but for our fallen, for their family and for their loved ones, and for us as a department as well.”

4:00 a.m.: A procession begins to lead the fallen officer from Methodist hospital to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office.

5:07 a.m.: Dallas police Chief Eddie García posts a tribute on X with the caption “No words.” He attaches a photo of a Dallas police badge above the city of Dallas with a dark blue line across the center.

7:30 a.m.: The Lewisville Police Department says the “roadway is clear” and “traffic is flowing freely” in an update to its 12:20 a.m. Facebook post.

9:13 a.m.: U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who represents the area where the shooting happened, writes on X that she is “heartbroken for the family and friends of the officer lost last night.”

“This epidemic of gun violence must end,” she also wrote.

9:23 a.m.: Gov. Greg Abbott posts to X to honor the fallen officer.

“Our hearts are with the @DallasPD & the entire Dallas community,” he wrote.

10:10 a.m.: In a statement posted to X, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson calls for city flags to be flown at half-staff.

“Dallas has lost a hero,” he wrote.

11:12 a.m.: Burks’ mother confirms to The News that her son was the officer killed in Thursday’s shooting.