‘This is not Mike’: Friend defends character of Dallas ISD teacher slain by DeSoto police

A man who says he has — for decades — known the Dallas ISD teacher who was fatally shot by DeSoto police responding to a burglary call earlier this week says people should not rush to judgment about his friend.

Jeremy Hass, 47, said he met Michael Christopher Nunez, 47, in 1994 at the University of Texas at Austin during freshman orientation. They befriended each other and kept in touch after college.

Later, Nunez was the best man at his wedding. Hass, of Trophy Club, said Nunez loved his children and would “do anything for them.”

“He had impeccable character and he was willing to help anybody — just overall a good guy,” Hass said.

Dallas ISD confirmed Tuesday that Nunez was a special education teacher at Moisés E. Molina High School. He was first hired by the district in June 2003. He left the district in October 2020 and was rehired in August, said Robyn Harris, a Dallas ISD spokeswoman. State records showed Nunez got a probationary Texas Educator Certificate to teach generic special education in 2003.

The success of his students was something Nunez held close to his heart. Hass said Nunez spoke to him about his passion for working with socioeconomically underprivileged students.

“He was always happy to hear about them getting out and making it into college. It’s something that he took pride in,” Hass said.

The two friends enjoyed going to rock music concerts, and as avid fans of the Longhorns, the pair attended multiple games. The last time he saw Nunez in person was in February at a UT baseball game, Hass said.

He was shocked to hear of Nunez’ death, Hass said. When he saw people leaving comments on DeSoto police’s Facebook page describing his friend as a criminal, Hass said he felt like he needed to come to his defense.

“The insinuation is that Mike is a criminal, that he’s a career criminal, and he got what he deserved,” Hass said. “The truth of the matter is that he’s far from a criminal.”

Shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday, a 911 caller reported a man, later identified Nunez had an “unknown item” and was burglarizing the caller’s home in the 300 block of Polk Street in DeSoto, police said Monday.

The Grand Prairie Police Department, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting, said in a news release Wednesday the 911 caller reported that Nunez was “displaying a homemade edged weapon, similar to a knife.” Nunez “lunged” at officers and tried to stab them with the makeshift weapon, Grand Prairie police said.

“Fearing for their life, the officer shot the suspect,” according to Grand Prairie police.

Officers at the scene tried to provide medical aid to Nunez after he was shot, but he died at the scene, police said.

DeSoto police are scheduled to release four videos from the incident at a Friday news conference.

Hass said he spoke to Nunez’s family members after learning that he had been shot. They told him that they believed he could be struggling with mental health.

Hass said he talked to Nunez over the weekend and that his friend did not “seem like himself.” Nunez did not say or communicate anything that made Hass feel like he should contact police.

“I’ve never heard him threaten anybody or threaten himself,” Hass said.

Chris Huerta, a DeSoto police spokesman, has said at least 10 officers responded to the burglary call Monday morning. In a Wednesday email, Huerta said none of the officers were part of the department’s mental health unit. He added that “many if not most” of the officers at the department have been through crisis intervention training and are “mental health peace officers.”

“The call came out as a burglary with occupants so patrol and criminal investigation units responded,” Huerta said.

Huerta said Nunez had been arrested Sunday evening for “throwing over trash cans” in a DeSoto park. That was the “only enforcement action the police department had ever encountered” with Nunez, Huerta added. Nunez had no violent criminal record in the state, according to online court records, with a 1996 DUI in Austin as his only prior example of history with police.

Hass said he has a hard time believing his friend would try to break into a house, and a harder time believing that he would try to hurt a police officer. He said he was not aware of any problems that Nunez had with either drugs or alcohol.

“This is not Mike,” Hass said. “He’s not a violent person; he’s not a criminal.”