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Suspect in Dallas shooting stated he wanted to 'kill white officers' Dallas shooting suspect stated he wanted to 'kill white officers'
(about 1 hour later)
The gunman who opened fire on police in Dallas said he wanted to kill white police officers and expressed anger at a recent spate of shootings by police before he was killed, it was revealed on Friday. Desperate pleas for unity and calm reverberated around the US after five police officers were killed and seven injured when at least one sniper opened fire on a peaceful protest in Dallas, telling police he wanted to kill white officers.
Related: Dallas protest shooting: five police officers dead and standoff over – liveRelated: Dallas protest shooting: five police officers dead and standoff over – live
The suspect, named by the Associated Press as 25-year-old Micah Johnson, a Dallas-area resident, was cornered for several hours by officers and was killed by an explosive device deployed by a police robot after extensive negotiations failed, said Dallas police chief David Brown. The shooter, 25-year-old Micah Johnson, an army reservist who served in Afghanistan, was killed after lengthy negotiations with officers during which he articulated anger at recent police killings of African American men and told negotiators “he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers”.
Brown told reporters at an early morning news conference: “The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter,” during negotiations. “He said he was upset about the recent shootings, he was upset at white people. The suspect said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The shooting, in which two civilians were also injured, marks the deadliest assault on police since the 9/11 attacks and threatens to plunge the already fraught discussion over race and policing in America to new depths of discord.
The attack in Dallas followed the police killings of two black men earlier in the week, Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, both captured on graphic cellphone video prompting protests around the US, including the march in Dallas.
US attorney general Loretta Lynch said the events had left Americans “feeling a sense of helplessness, of uncertainty and of fear”.
“These feelings are understandable and they are justified,” she said in an address to the nation on Friday, “But the answer must not be violence. The answer is never violence.”
Barack Obama, in Poland, for his last Nato summit, condemned the “vicious, calculated and despicable attack” on Dallas police. “Let’s be clear there are no possible justifications for these attacks or any violence towards law enforcement,” he added, mindful of how some on the right have sought to accuse him of failing to support the police.
The presidential election campaign, meanwhile, was upended by a mass shooting for the second time in a month. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were forced to postpone campaign events, as they did after the massacre of 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
In Dallas, police chief David Brown told reporters that the shooter appeared to have opened fire from an elevated position above the march and deliberately targeted officers at around 9pm. Initial reports indicated multiple shooters, but it was unclear on Friday how many people had opened fire. Three suspects were held in custody.
Video footage caught by local broadcast media and protesters showed the crowd running and screaming once the rapid gunfire broke out. One clip showed an injured officer lying in the street, while another captured one of the shooters opening fire from near a large pillar, seemingly ambushing an officer from behind.
The shooter was later holed up on the second storey of a downtown garage and entered into negotiations that lasted for several hours during which he also opened fire on officers.
Brown told reporters at an early morning news conference: “The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter,” during the negotiations. “He said he was upset about the recent shootings, he was upset at white people. The suspect said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.
“The suspect said that he was not affiliated with any groups and he stated that he did this alone,” Brown said.“The suspect said that he was not affiliated with any groups and he stated that he did this alone,” Brown said.
A further three suspects, two males and one female, are in police custody. Authorities declined to provide any further details and it remains unclear if more than one shooter opened fire. After negotiations failed, officers deployed a police robot to detonate an explosive device which killed the suspect, Brown said.
Five police officers were killed and seven injured as at least one shooter opened fire on police from an elevated position during a protest in downtown Dallas on Thursday evening. Brown said that the two male suspects were caught after officers followed their vehicle and recovered two camouflage bags. A female suspect was arrested close to where the standoff had taken place.
The shooting marked the deadliest attack on law enforcement officers since 9/11 and threatened to inject yet more tension into the already divisive debate over racial disparities in US policing. In an address later on Thursday, Brown said investigators had found that “this was a well-planned thought-out, evil tragedy by these suspects”.
During an emotional statement, Brown paid tribute to the officers injured and killed on Thursday: “We are hurting, our profession is hurting. Dallas officers are hurting. We are heartbroken. There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city. Police estimated that about 800 protesters and 100 officers were at the rally. Early in the evening, officers were posing for photographs with demonstrators and the event had remained peaceful.
“All I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness, between our police and our citizens.” Charles Wilson, a 55 year-old Dallas resident who was present at the rally on Thursday night, said he was close by when the shooting started. “It sounded like firecrackers but it wasn’t firecrackers, it was bullets, and the cops started saying: ‘Go the other way, go the other way!” he told the Guardian.
“It was just sporadic shooting, lots of bullets. I didn’t know who they were shooting at but there was a lot of bullets.”
On Friday morning, about 11 hours after the shooting began, a large swath of downtown Dallas close to Dealey Plaza, where John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, was closed off with police blocking roads and helicopters circling overhead. At a vigil in the city’s Thanksgiving Square, local faith leaders called on the city to unite and pray together.
Meanwhile ATF agents and local police were at the house where the shooter seemingly lived with his mother. The road was blocked off at both ends by police and a crowd of neighbours, and media, gathered in a field opposite the home, a large two-storey structure on a well-kept street in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite.
A neighbour, Jowanda Alexander, said that she met Johnson once, about five or six months ago, when he came round to complain about her daughter, saying she was “messing with his mailbox”. She said that he was polite: “When he came he didn’t come aggressive, just real gentle and he seemed real nervous.” Alexander described the area as a nice, diverse, place.
Johnson, an enlisted US army reservist, deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and served there until July 2014, according to his service record, released by the US army on Friday.
Three of the dead officers have been named in local reports as Brent Thompson, 43, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) officer and Dallas police officers Patrick Zamarripa and Michael Krol. Some of the seven injured officers were in a serious condition.
The two civilians wounded included Shetamia Taylor, who was shot in the leg while attending the protest with her sons. Her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
On Friday, Clinton, the effective Democratic nominee, tweeted: “I mourn for the officers shot while doing their sacred duty to protect peaceful protesters, for their families & all who serve with them.”
Trump, her Republican rival, condemned “a coordinated, premeditated assault on the men and women who keep us safe”, while also making reference to “the senseless, tragic deaths” of Sterling and Castile.
In a glimpse of how he might pursue the issue on the campaign trail, Trump added: “Our nation has become too divided. Too many Americans feel like they’ve lost hope. Crime is harming too many citizens. Racial tensions have gotten worse, not better. This isn’t the American Dream we all want for our children.”
Related: Dallas shooting victims: three police officers identified as colleagues mourn
Brown, the Dallas police chief, echoed the calls for unity.
“All I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness, between our police and our citizens,” he said.
He described officers who responded to the attack as “some of the bravest men and women I know”, adding: “You see video footage after video of them running towards gunfire from an elevated position, with no chance of protecting themselves.He described officers who responded to the attack as “some of the bravest men and women I know”, adding: “You see video footage after video of them running towards gunfire from an elevated position, with no chance of protecting themselves.
“Please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability, who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy.“Please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability, who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy.
“We do not feel much support most days,” Brown said. “Let’s not make today most days. We need your support to protect you from men like these.”“We do not feel much support most days,” Brown said. “Let’s not make today most days. We need your support to protect you from men like these.”
On Friday morning, about 11 hours after the shooting began, a large swath of downtown Dallas close to Dealey Plaza, where John F Kennedy was assassinated, was closed off with police blocking roads and helicopters circling overhead. Former civil rights leader, Congressman John Lewis, said the week’s events underlined how, “the scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in American society.” Lewis, who marched with Dr Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama at the height of the civil rights movement, added on Twitter: “I was beaten bloody by police officers. But I never hated them. I said, ‘Thank you for your service.’”
As Dallas began to come to terms, community leaders were preparing to hold events designed to help the grieving. The organizers of the peaceful march that was attacked are expected to give their account at 11am local time, and an interfaith service of religious leaders is scheduled for an hour later.
Three of the dead officers have been named in local reports as Brent Thompson, 43, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) officer and Dallas police officers Patrick Zamarripa and Michael Krol. Some of the seven injured officers were in a serious condition. Two civilians were wounded, including Shetamia Taylor, who was shot in the leg while attending the protest with her sons, but her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
The anti-violence rally was one of a number being held across the US after the fatal police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday and Philando Castile in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
Barack Obama called the assault a “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement” and said the shooters would be held accountable for the “senseless murders”.
Police estimated that about 800 protesters and 100 officers were at the rally. Early in the evening, officers were posing for photographs with demonstrators. But police and witnesses said shots were fired at 8.58pm and the protest descended into chaos. Brown said snipers shot at officers “from elevated positions”.
Video footage caught by local broadcast media and protesters showed the crowd running and screaming once the rapid gunfire broke out. One clip showed an injured officer lying in the street, while another captured one of the shooters opening fire from behind a large pillar.
“Everyone just started running,” Devante Odom, 21, told the Dallas Morning News. “We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there.”
Charles Wilson, another witness, said police and protesters began gathering at about 5pm and there had also been a small protest on Wednesday.
He said he was close by when the shooting started. “It sounded like firecrackers but it wasn’t firecrackers, it was bullets, and the cops started saying: ‘Go the other way, go the other way!” the 55-year-old said.
“It was just sporadic shooting, lots of bullets. I didn’t know who they were shooting at but there was a lot of bullets.”
He walked along the light-rail tracks to evade the scene as best he could when officers swarmed the area. “It was like everybody was in a box, you couldn’t go nowhere,” he said. “It was basically like something out of a movie.”
Brown told reporters on Thursday night that officers exchanged fire with the trapped gunman into the early hours of Friday, and that the suspect had told officers “the end is coming” and “he’s going to hurt and kill more of us – meaning law enforcement”.
He said that snipers appeared to have positioned themselves on perches at downtown garages during an orchestrated attack and “planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could”.
The police chief said the FBI and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) had been asked to assist in investigating the bomb threat. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) later issued a temporary flight restriction over downtown Dallas.
Brown said that the two male suspects were caught after officers followed their vehicle and recovered two camouflage bags. The female suspect was arrested close to where the standoff had taken place.
The department was investigating whether any of the suspects had prior knowledge of the protest’s planning. “We’re leaving every motive on the table,” Brown said.
The suspect who died was cornered at a parking garage near El Centro College.
Speaking from Warsaw, Poland, Obama said: “I believe I speak for every single American when I say we are horrified over these events and we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas,” he said. “According to police there are multiple suspects, we will learn more about their twisted motivations but let’s be clear: there is no possible justification for these kind of attacks or any violence against law enforcement.
“Our police have an extraordinarily difficult job and the vast majority of them do their job in outstanding fashion,” he said. “Today is a wrenching reminder of the sacrifices that they make for us. We also know when people are armed with powerful weapons it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic.”
Speaking alongside the police chief at the press conference, the Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings, described the shootings as “our worst nightmare”. He added: “It is a heartbreaking moment for the city of Dallas.”
The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, said in a statement that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the families of those officers who had been shot. “In times like these we must remember and emphasize – the importance of uniting as Americans.”The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, said in a statement that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the families of those officers who had been shot. “In times like these we must remember and emphasize – the importance of uniting as Americans.”
Seventy-two law enforcement officers died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.Seventy-two law enforcement officers died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.
The overnight deaths were the first fatal shootings of US police at demonstrations since unrest spread following the police shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.The overnight deaths were the first fatal shootings of US police at demonstrations since unrest spread following the police shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.
Two officers were wounded by gunfire while guarding the Ferguson police headquarters during a protest in March last year. A 20-year-old man was charged with crimes including first-degree assault and has pleaded not guilty.Two officers were wounded by gunfire while guarding the Ferguson police headquarters during a protest in March last year. A 20-year-old man was charged with crimes including first-degree assault and has pleaded not guilty.
In December 2014, two New York police officers were killed in an ambush-style attack by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who then killed himself. Before the shooting, Brinsley, who had mental health problems, had mentioned on social media high-profile cases of black men being killed by police.In December 2014, two New York police officers were killed in an ambush-style attack by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who then killed himself. Before the shooting, Brinsley, who had mental health problems, had mentioned on social media high-profile cases of black men being killed by police.