A military veteran who said his goal was to kill white police officers opened fire Thursday night in downtown Dallas, leaving five officers dead and seven wounded before the police killed him with a remote-controlled explosive delivered by a robot, officials said.
During a standoff that lasted for hours after the attack, the sniper claimed — apparently falsely — to have planted explosives in the area, and told police negotiators that “he was upset about Black Lives Matter,” the Dallas police chief, David O. Brown, said on Friday.
“He said he was upset about the recent police shootings,” Chief Brown said. “The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.”
The officers who were shot were patrolling a peaceful demonstration by thousands of people protesting the fatal shootings earlier in the week of black men by police officers in Minnesota and Louisiana. The gunfire, starting just before 9 p.m., sent terrified marchers, including families with children, running for cover, while police officers ran the other way, guns drawn and toward the shooting, and returned fire. Two civilians were wounded by gunfire.
The police arrested three people, but there was some uncertainty about the number of gunmen. At first, officials said that multiple snipers had carried out a coordinated ambush of the officers — some of whom were shot in the back, the chief said — but later, a senior law enforcement official said it appeared that the suspect killed by the police, identified as Micah Johnson, 25, was the sole gunman.
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