Sniper Attack Leaves 5 Police Officers Dead, 7 Injured

• One of the suspects said he was upset about recent police shootings and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers, the police chief said. 

• Police detonated a robot bomb to kill the suspect after attempting to negotiate.

• President Barack Obama called the attack “vicious, despicable, and calculated.”

 

Dallas was left reeling on Friday after gunmen killed five police officers in an “ambush-style” attack during a Black Lives Matter protest, in the deadliest day for police in the U.S. since 9/11. At least seven police officers and two civilians were injured.

Police negotiated with one suspect for several hours, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a news conference. The suspect, identified as Micah Johnson, told officers he was upset about Black Lives Matter, the recent police shootings of black men, and white people.

Johnson “wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Brown said. 

After exchanging gunfire, officers “saw no other option but to use our robot bomb,” Brown said. The detonation killed Johnson.

Three other suspects remained in custody Friday. 

“We’re hurting. Our profession is hurting,” Brown said. “Dallas officers are hurting. We are heartbroken. There are no words that describe the atrocity that occurred to our city.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said downtown Dallas would still be considered “an active crime scene” going into Friday, and urged people to check the city’s news updates on which areas to avoid. 

REUTERS

President Barack Obama addressed the shootings from Warsaw, Poland, where he’d been attending a meeting with NATO officials.

“There has been a vicious, despicable, and calculated attack on law enforcement,” he said. “I think I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS

All signs pointed to the demonstration having been peaceful throughout the evening. The DPD Twitter account included posts about “men, women, boys and girls” gathered in solidarity, while other photos show officers posing with marchers, including a state senator. 

LAURA BUCKMAN VIA GETTY IMAGES

Dramatic video of the shooting shows dozens of officers converging on several buildings in downtown Dallas, including a parking garage. In another, several shotscan be heard ringing out as sirens blare in the background.

“It was just an endless stream of gunshots,” Dallas attorney Allison Griswold told The Huffington Post. She watched the atrocity unfold from her living room window and posted videos on Twitter. “I started to see, later on, cops just running towards it as other people started running.”

I am so scared. pic.twitter.com/jw88QnKGXG

— Allison (@allisongriz) July 8, 2016

Mayor Rawlings said it was “heartbreaking” to lose the police officers. “To say that our police officers put their lives on the line every day is no hyperbole, it is a reality,” he said. “We as a city, we as a country, must come together, lock arms and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time. Words matter. Leadership matters at this time.”

“They would step in harm’s way for each other,” Rawlings told CNN, speaking of the police officers. “The one man who was shot in the leg, he was so distressed, not for his wound but because he saw some of his squad go down around him.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement his thoughts and prayers were with the victims. “In times like these we must remember ― and emphasize ― the importance of uniting as Americans,” he added.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hundreds had gathered in cities across the country earlier Thursday to protest this week’s police shootings of Alton Sterling, who was killed outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile, who was shot during a traffic stop in Minnesota.

Demonstrators were carrying signs and chanting “no justice no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot” ― common refrains of the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

READ MORE ON THE DALLAS POLICE MASSACRE

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