Law enforcement authorities have identified the alleged shooter who opened fire Wednesday on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) location in Dallas as Joshua Jahn, multiple media outlets reported.
Jahn, 29, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, authorities said, the New York Post reported.
A shooter with a rifle opened fire from a nearby roof on to an ICE office, killing one detainee and wounding two others critically before taking his own life, authorities said.
The words “anti-ICE” were written on a stripper clip of ammo found near Jahn’s body, according to authorities.
“I can confirm at this time that the FBI is investigating this incident as an act of targeted violence,” Joe Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Dallas, said at a press conference.
The exact motivation for the attack was not immediately known. The head of the FBI, Kash Patel, released a photo on social media that shows a bullet found at the scene containing the words “ANTI-ICE” written in what appears to be marker.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking with White House reporters on Wednesday, had this to say about the episode:
“We’re all mourning and rooting for and praying for everybody who was injured at that ICE facility, and as far as we know, it looks like some of the detainees, in other words, some of the potential illegal aliens were some of those who are affected. Look, just because we don’t support illegal aliens, we don’t want them to be executed by violent assassins engaged in political violence.”
The attack is the latest public targeted killing in the U.S. and comes two weeks after conservative leader Charlie Kirk was also killed by a shooter on a roof.
“The shooter fired indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in the sallyport where the victims were shot,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a release about the Dallas shooting.
The detainee who survived was in critical condition at a hospital, DHS said.
No ICE agents were injured.
Officers responded to a call to assist an officer on North Stemmons Freeway around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday and determined that someone opened fire at a government building from an adjacent building, Dallas police spokesperson Officer Jonathen E. Maner said in an email.
Edwin Cardona, an immigrant from Venezuela, said he was entering the ICE building with his son for an appointment around 6:20 a.m. when he heard gunshots.
An agent gathered people who were inside the building, took them to a more secure area and explained that there was an active shooter in the area, Cardona said.
“I was afraid for my family because my family was outside. I felt terrible because I thought something could happen to them. Thank God no,” Cardona said.
Cardona said his family was brought into the building, and they were later reunited.
The ICE facility is along Interstate 35 East, just southwest of Dallas Love Field, a large commercial airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, and blocks from hotels catering to travelers.
Traffic cameras near the scene showed six lanes of a normally busy freeway empty, with cars and semitrailers ground to a halt on an interstate exit. Dozens of emergency vehicles were seen near the facility.
Shortly after the shooting and before officials said at least one of the victims was a detainee, Vice President JD Vance posted on the social platform X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed the sentiment, calling for an end to politically motivated violence.
“To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CPB: stop,” Cruz told reporters, referencing Customs and Border Protection.
But immediately after the news conference in which officials refused to say whether the victims included detainees, Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, called in to a Dallas’ WFAA-TV newscast and told them he was “absolutely sickened” by some officials’ comments.
“If they are trying to control this narrative and they don’t want migrants to be the victim in this story, then they may want to slow-walk giving us any information about this, so they can still keep on talking about attacks on ICE,” Veasey said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted there has been an uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
A July 4 attack at a Texas immigration detention center injured a police officer who was shot in the neck. Attackers dressed in black military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
A man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents as they were leaving a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen on July 7. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a police officer who responded to the scene before authorities shot and killed him. Police later found other weaponry, ammunition and backpacks inside his car.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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