🔴LIVE: Dallas apartment explosion death press conference

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]runs in that we don't know about, which I'm not counting on.

[00:00:27]just we're playing it up big the first day because we don't have access >> and then the last.

[00:00:48]Did you guys get your credentials already?

[00:00:50]>> No.

[00:00:50]>> No, I can't even.

[00:00:51]>> Me neither.

[00:00:52]>> You pick them up. They're so far behind on on background checks.

[00:00:58]>> My neighbor sent me an email like asking me for my >> first child.

[00:01:06]>> And then there's like I get another email like I just did this. I don't want you >> all let us have space over >> and y'all box.

[00:01:25]>> Yes.

[00:01:28]>> On the fields.

[00:01:32]>> Exactly.

[00:01:32]>> Yeah.

[00:01:33]>> Are you guys going to be I know you guys are part of it. Are you going to be shooting the game or you're not allowed either?

[00:01:39]>> No, we can Well, we can't shoot the game. We can be on the field before and after. Oh, >> okay. So, >> can you pay your highlights afterwards?

[00:01:54]>> They're so much more strict than the NFL. I was going to say, yeah, Cowboys can't use it online yesterday >> and like apply for >> use the email that this was sent to and it's the news desk email and then that's not registered. None of our names are on the list. We end up just getting through the day. Here's my credential.

[00:02:30]>> I want I'm interested to see how the wireless stuff's going to work. I've got a buddy that's I got a buddy that's in the FBI and he tells me they are really worried about drones and they're just going to basically put a shield over everything three mile >> radius around the stadium thousand foot or I could have it backwards >> and the fair park >> he and a bunch of his buddies they're whole game is to not let drones get to the sites and he's you know he's >> anti- drone 10 your FBI.

[00:03:04]>> That's what they >> Yeah. Cyber.

[00:03:10]>> That's exactly why I don't want to.

[00:03:13]>> Did you get my email?

[00:03:14]>> I did.

[00:03:15]>> Thank you so much, >> Alissa. Here is stuff.

[00:03:19]>> Awesome.

[00:03:20]>> Photographs the lawsuit.

[00:03:22]>> I can email this to you.

[00:03:26]>> Thank you so much.

[00:03:27]>> The dog doesn't bite.

[00:03:28]>> Chris will be here shortly. We're obviously here.

[00:03:32]>> We're here.

[00:03:36]Have y'all done a mic check already?

[00:03:38]>> So, we're good.

[00:03:40]>> Yes.

[00:03:42]>> Yeah. I'm just Yeah, I'll just do it on here.

[00:03:48]Uh, testing one, two, three. Testing one, two, three. Okay.

[00:03:54]Testing one, two, three. Testing one, two, three. Mic check. Mic check. One, two, three. Testing. Testing. You say >> uh Emily.

[00:04:07]Okay, cool. This is good.

[00:04:11]>> I can come in Spanish.

[00:04:13]>> Thank you.

[00:04:24]>> You guys are going there.

[00:04:30]>> So, I shipped out I'm thinking whenever you get back.

[00:04:33]>> Oh, damn.

[00:04:35]>> And then it's going to be there for when they get there.

[00:04:38]>> Are you guys going to that game?

[00:04:39]>> Yeah, >> that'll be good.

[00:04:41]>> Are you going?

[00:04:46]No thanks.

[00:04:46]>> Oh, I'm not.

[00:04:47]>> That's where >> Oh, okay.

[00:04:51]When you went to Iraq, new environment, did you bring Did you leave up there was just pretty much what?

[00:05:06]>> This must have been the good old days.

[00:05:07]>> You were a baby when that happened.

[00:05:09]>> This must have been the good old days that I hear about >> on TV.

[00:05:18]I never realized how common that is for TV.

[00:05:25]>> Not like the big leis worthless saty and I went to Romania to do a documentary and Half our stuff was stolen >> or the hotel people would rip it off. I came back with a camera and a light and like two batteries and all the tapes.

[00:05:57]That's all I came back with.

[00:06:01]Probably in Russia by now. I don't know.

[00:06:08]>> Although I did sell I had like five pair of jeans there for a while. I sold all of them for 150 bucks. For a piece of short >> Yeah. to get back home.

[00:06:42]back to back >> came back for like nothing >> Costco.

[00:07:11]Close those windows.

[00:07:27]It's the first time this room's been used in probably a couple months.

[00:07:31]>> First time what >> this room's been used.

[00:07:35]We never turn the AC on in there.

[00:07:39]Jesus Christ.

[00:07:56]>> The other attorney that ain't my that ain't my beat.

[00:08:16]Where is it?

[00:08:18]>> Some ranch.

[00:08:20]>> Maybe you'll get barbecue.

[00:08:24]>> Minerals.

[00:08:51]All right.

[00:09:00]Congratulations.

[00:09:13]me right here.

[00:09:14]>> Yes, please.

[00:09:16]>> And if you've done met everybody, there's a few I didn't meet. Oh, right in front of these. Yeah. Yeah, I got it.

[00:09:21]>> And here's Dylan. Nice to meet you.

[00:09:24]>> Hey, Chris.

[00:09:25]>> Say hi to everybody.

[00:09:28]Everybody knows >> I'm sending you that email right now >> and I will sit over here and shut up y'all.

[00:09:46]Getting right in front of them.

[00:09:47]>> You scoot right over there.

[00:09:48]>> Where's the Oh, right in front of the Yeah. Yeah, I got you. Okay. now with the program.

[00:09:54]>> And we're using the Hamilton Wingo uh mic stands.

[00:09:57]>> You don't see?

[00:09:59]>> Yeah.

[00:10:04]Ready?

[00:10:04]>> Roll, folks.

[00:10:06]>> Ready?

[00:10:06]>> Y'all got questions? I don't think Chris has a statement. So, >> I mean, I can start talking, but if anybody's got questions, I'll start there.

[00:10:12]>> First, can we have you say spell your first?

[00:10:13]>> Yes. Chris Hamilton. C H R I S H A M I L T O N. I am a partner with the law firm of Hamilton Wingo in Dallas.

[00:10:27]>> Let's just start with the lawsuit. What was it about?

[00:10:31]>> Yes. So, we have filed a lawsuit in Dallas County on behalf of the family of Sylvia Collins uh relating to her death in the explosion last week. The lawsuit names Atmas Energy as a defendant. Their pipeline was involved. It also names a number of other parties that had responsibility in connection to the work and drilling activities that were occurring on site. Uh the lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages for gross negligence relating to the death.

[00:11:00]Uh and the family has brought this lawsuit to make sure that this never happens again in our community.

[00:11:07]just give me your, you know, initial reaction to seeing take away the title and position of an attorney, but just as a human being to see the flames. You could probably easily see them from here. Just just what was your reaction?

[00:11:19]>> Oh, it's abs it's absolutely horrifying.

[00:11:22]I mean, if you look at these photos, it looks like a war zone. It looks like a bomb went off. Uh, and that's actually the description that a number of neighbors have given it. Um, this has really cast a paw over our city. This is a horrible, horrible, horrifying thing that should never be allowed to happen.

[00:11:39]I mean, there is no set of circumstances where an apartment building or a home is allowed to be consumed by an explosion.

[00:11:45]And so, this is just something that should never happen. And there are a bunch of things that have to go wrong for it to happen. And there needs to be some accountability so that it doesn't happen again.

[00:11:55]>> And we're hearing it.

[00:11:56]>> One second.

[00:12:01]>> I think it was at most marked the wrong, you know, areas to hit. But basically, something went wrong.

[00:12:09]>> Oh, something went horribly wrong here.

[00:12:11]Uh, one of the issues is how was this line marked and was it marked properly?

[00:12:17]Uh, because it's required by law that those markings occur and uh they have to be done correctly. There's a protocol.

[00:12:24]It's not complicated, but it's critically important for public safety.

[00:12:28]Uh one of the key questions that we have right now is how were these lines marked and was that done correctly? Uh that is a major question hanging over this because uh it is somewhat hard to believe that a correctly marked line could result in this happening. Uh that somebody could be that negligent. And if that did happen that a driller hit a correctly marked line, uh that involves so much incompetence that everybody associated with that driller and allowing him to be on site without supervision has serious responsibility.

[00:13:01]Uh but the marking of the line is a starting point that's critical here. And another issue that uh is raised by the physics, the dynamics of an explosion of this size is where did all that gas come from? Uh, one of the things we haven't heard discussion about that we're going to hear more about later is how can this actually occur inside a building like this. There's been a reference to drilling activities outside, but the volume of gas involved with this type of explosion very very likely involves other sources of gas that were pre-existing. Uh we have in our investigation spoken to a number of uh neighbors who reported gas, the smell of gas in the building uh in the days before. And so uh this really merits further investigation uh because in order to get an explosion of this size, there were likely uh other sources of gas beyond uh a single point of damage that's been reported at this point.

[00:14:06]See um uh Uhons.

[00:14:58]Atmos. Excuse me.

[00:15:23]Um, >> sorry about the temperature in here.

[00:15:27]We've had this going on. No, you're fine.

[00:15:29]>> I'd open the door, but I guess it's not good.

[00:15:31]>> Is out there.

[00:15:31]>> Well, >> um >> there's more to help you.

[00:15:35]>> And can you speak to Sylvia Collins? Um just the person who was lost in one of the people lost in this catastrophe.

[00:15:45]>> Sylvia Collins was just an absolute gem of a person, a rare one-of-a-kind person. Uh she was a personal friend of mine for years and she was just a critical person in our community in Dallas that's been a staple of our community for decades. Sylvia was a selfless person. Uh she really never thought about herself and did everything, gave everything she had for decades to help other people. I mean she truly is that rare individual uh who always put others first. And one of the things that really struck me about this tragedy, you know, I didn't want to believe it at first. I started immediately getting messages that Sylvia um couldn't be reached. And uh it was really hard to process this at first.

[00:16:34]It's one, you know, at first it's just a tragedy involving um a a person that you know and love. Um, but the more I started to process it, I realized that justice would be really important for Sylvia in this circumstance. And if she was in this role as a community activist rather than a victim, she would be on the front lines of making sure that we got justice to prevent this uh in our community because this is not something that should be occurring in Oakliff or anywhere in Dallas. It's just not acceptable in 2026 uh to turn our communities in this beautiful peaceful city into a war zone. Uh that is not allowed to occur and I know that Sylvia would be absolutely determined to make sure that this doesn't happen again. And so I feel an extra sense of obligation knowing who she was, the type of person she was and just the hole that that's left in the heart of our city. uh that we have to get justice for this and get to the bottom of this and this needs to be the last time this happens in North Texas or frankly anywhere else in this country.

[00:17:50]Uh persona in Dallas.

[00:18:18]Sylvia important person.

[00:19:33]Can you just speak to how the family is feeling. I assume that you know you talk to them.

[00:19:38]>> Of course.

[00:19:38]>> Yeah. Just kind of want to know what what they're feeling and just the reality of all this.

[00:19:46]>> Yeah. I mean, the family is obviously completely horrified by what's happened and is still in shock in processing this. It was completely unexpected, but also as more information comes out, just horrifying and traumatic the way that Sylvia died. And the family is really still processing this with grief. You know, Sylvia was a prominent person, a public person who was very active in our community, but her family was private.

[00:20:16]And so, this is really a difficult situation for them to process this grief and this environment. and they have asked for privacy and appreciate the privacy and respect they've gotten. They will be ready to uh obviously um to speak at some point, but uh right now this is just a horrible tragedy that is still ongoing as they're trying to get some sort of closure even for what happened. were waiting DNA test results to actually conclusively identify the body because all that was recovered so far apparently is um the skeleton. And so, uh, the family is not prepared at this point in time to, um, to, you know, take on a public role because they never asked for this type of attention. And they also want to make sure as they process the grieving that the attention stays really uh, where it belongs on Sylvia's life and on the other victims who are still suffering from this horrible tragedy. you know, there are a lot of people who have survived but are going to be dealing with this for a really long time, potentially the rest of their lives. And so, uh, the family's heart just really goes out to everybody.

[00:21:25]Um, and I'm sorry, let me I'm sweating.

[00:21:28]I want to make one more statement on that, but I want to make one of the uh things that the family wanted to communicate is they've had a just a tremendous outpouring of support from the community, from uh people they knew, people they didn't know, and uh including offers of uh financial support. Uh the family has made a decision that they believe that Sylvia would want any financial support that is offered in the immediate aftermath of this to go to the survivors.

[00:22:09]And so any monies that are donated to the family are going to be donated to organizations supporting the survivors who have the imminent needs right now.

[00:22:18]And the family also asked that anybody that is considering uh financial donations to the family at this time uh direct those to organizations supporting the survivors because they believe that's the way to honor Sylvia's legacy and what Sylvia would want uh if she were here. The family uh is also determined after we process some of these events to make sure that we get justice for what occurred and that that is the family's responsibility that they believe they owe. uh to Sylvia, their mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, uh to get justice so that this doesn't happen again because that would be Sylvia's wish.

[00:23:06]Uh um La Familia Sylvia personas.

[00:24:17]See, see, see.

[00:24:32]Malos um in this lawsuit. uh you know in the opening pages there's some pretty horrific details about uh Sylvia's death. Um I know a lot of people are just really hungry for any additional details as to how this happened and anything circumstances. Can you speak to the those details? Anything you've heard that you know made you feel confident that you could take this case on?

[00:25:10]>> Yeah. Well uh that's a great question.

[00:25:13]Uh, one of the things unfortunately that we have learned uh from uh a witness at the scene, a neighbor, is that while they have not, you know, verified Sylvia's um skeleton, uh he did hear screams uh as she was trapped inside the fire. Uh it's a horrifying thing to hear, but um that sort of evidence has come forward and in interviews with uh other witnesses and residents, we're hearing that there was a smell of gas in the building in days before. And so um this type of information is obviously uh going to require uh further investigation, but uh we are getting substantial information coming out in the days following. And we've also located some nearby surveillance videos that we're going to make sure that are secured for the case uh as well. So, look, this is a sort of situation where information is going to come out over time. One of the things we're going to see initially is that there's going to be uh some great reporting that's been done by the media uh in the early phases and the official investigations are going to continue and follow in the wake of that. The civil lawsuit plays a critical role in that we have the ability to get court orders, discovery, depositions, witnesses under oath, uh, and to seek out information that may not always be available, uh, to the media or even to investigating officials. Uh, and so I would, um, encourage the public, uh, this is an important thing that's going to need to have longer term attention on it than just the next few weeks. uh and the information that you hear in the next few days may be accurate. Uh it may turn out later that additional information is discovered.

[00:26:56]One of the things I've repeatedly seen in these circumstances is that uh the companies with the most resources uh have the most immediate response and the blame always gets passed downhill at the beginning. Uh but as we continue to investigate uh I think the public is going to see and the evidence is going to show that this can only occur with a level of systemic failures that don't just involve a single person at the bottom of the totem pole. This is something that involved uh systemic systematic failures in safety procedures and laws that are necessary to protect the public from this type of harm. And so I think as we get further into the lawsuit uh we are going to learn things that are going to really blow open uh what we've heard just in these initial days about what's occurred in this situation. And I think the uh the additional information regarding the responsibility for this is going to be something that the public's going to need to continue to follow over time to make sure that we're educated and that we all know how to protect our community and make sure that we take steps to not allow this to happen in our own neighborhoods, in our own homes. You said that there were reports of gas earlier. Were there any um any investigation or or did Atmas or anybody look into that fire department? are you aware of?

[00:28:22]>> One of the key things we're going to be investigating is what Atmas knew before uh about not only about were there reports, but what did Atmas know on their own? What data did they have on these lines? What prior reports had they received on these lines not just in the days before uh but in the weeks, months, or years before? What had they uh seen in their own um inspections? So, the data and detail from Atmas that we're going to obtain in the lawsuit is going to go much much further than what uh is going to come out in these initial days and even maybe what they would like to provide to investigating officials. Uh so, we're going to get to the bottom of all that, but um the multiple independent reports of the smell of rotten eggs uh in and around the building in the days before is uh highly concerning. And we've heard these reports from too many different individuals and too many different sources who haven't even spoken to each other in order for that to be a coincidence. And that's going to merit much much further investigation. But look, you can see in these photos and videos of this building on fire. We're talking about a tremendous amount of gas. I've done oilfield explosion cases and they don't look like this. This is a huge amount of gas in order for this type of fire uh and explosion to occur that people are hearing at this distance away. And that's something that's going to require much further investigation.

[00:29:48]And in other similar situations that have occurred um in other prior explosions, the presence of other leaks and pre-existing sources of gas even in the context of a third party strike uh is something that is a contributor to an explosion of this size. Uh the other thing that I think is going to merit investigation is to the extent there was uh some or a partial involvement with a third party strike on this line. Why is it that Atmos has such a high rate of third party strikes? Why is it that Atmos continues to have leaks where they're blaming third parties for what occurs?

[00:30:30]And so what is the process whether marking the lines or the 811 procedures or the quality uh or lack of quality of the maintenance of these lines and the condition of these lines that this company continues to have this problem um even when it does involve third party strikes? Why would one company have more third party strikes than other companies in the same position? So, we've got an issue where there's um there are known pre-existing uh problems with Atmas' infrastructure, and given the reports of these issues in the days before from neighbors, uh this investigation is uh is going to need to go really deep, and we're going to get to the bottom of it.

[00:31:10]>> You know, roughly about how many days before they were >> uh what I've heard is a couple days before in the two days before is what I've heard. There have been a range of media reports, but from our investigation, what we've gotten from sources is in the couple days before Uh information.

[00:32:07]Well, construction in Lasius.

[00:32:49]Lasit.ch.

[00:33:19]Discovery.

[00:33:41]>> Do you feel confident that the family could get some sort of closure through this suit, if any? the um look this can't happen without gross negligence. We know that gross negligence occurred and right now the closure is simply grieving and bearing a loved one and that's really all the family can focus on. But longer term, I'm confident that one way or another, we can get justice in this case that will make it too expensive for companies to make this mistake again. You know, they have those billboards for DWIs. You can't afford it. Uh this needs to be a situation where the companies involved in this horrible, horrible event cannot afford to allow this to occur again. And I'm determined that we're going to be able to get justice for this uh event for this family. And the only look, there is nothing we can do to bring Sylvia back.

[00:34:46]If there was any paper I could file, anything I could do, um a case to bring Sylvia back, that would be the the only thing we would care about. But we can't do that. And so the only closure um that this family can get is going to be to know that they have taken the steps in Sylvia's name and on her behalf to make sure that our communities are going to be safe because we can't tolerate this once and we sure can't take this again.

[00:35:16]This is a horrible, horrible event for our city and um this is going to affect the the heart and soul of the city for a long time and we need to make sure that the memory of this event is justice, fairness, and safety for our community and not the memory of this horrible, terrifying and tragic event that turned our precious city into a war zone.

[00:35:42]And I guess my followup question would be what's the next step, you know, after we leave here today and we continue reporting on this and people talk about this. What's the next step for you and for the family? Um yeah, just after today, >> um the family is still in the early stages of the grieving process. Uh but we're hard at work on our investigation and the case. There will be some procedural steps in order to be able to be begin discovery uh in the lawsuit in the proceeding. Uh but we're already preparing that discovery, including third-party subpoenas and information to obtain all the available data and information that we can to get justice for this case. That will be a lengthy process, but it has already started and I'm going to be working on it as soon as we leave this meeting. We've been talking to uh we've got investigators talking to witnesses. We've been collecting information including uh video uh footage, photographs, and other information that I think is going to be helpful later on. We have learned that there are a number of surveillance videos of the explosion, and we're in the process of making sure that information is preserved and requesting it as soon as the civil process will allow it. Uh, so there's going to be a series of steps in the lawsuit, including document discovery, um, motions to get court orders, and depositions where company witnesses have to get under oath, uh, and answer my questions.

[00:37:30]was drone.

[00:37:54]information No, see.

[00:38:34]>> All right.

[00:38:35]>> Okay. Thank you.

[00:38:36]>> Thank you, sir.

[00:38:37]>> Thank y'all.

[00:38:38]>> Chris, thanks, man.

[00:38:44]>> Do you need anything else out of me?

[00:38:46]Call me if you need something. I'll just make sure everybody's got what they need.

[00:38:49]>> Okay. And they'll Will you help them get their parking?

[00:38:52]>> Yeah. Yeah. I've got Don't worry about it. Yeah. Don't I've got taken care of.

[00:38:57]>> I say that when he leaves, I'll just leave you out here for yourself to get access to >> Oh, I see.

[00:39:17]investigation.

[00:39:27]So, we'll force them to turn information, but no, we've sent them to us until 30 days.