DALLAS – The reasons behind the attack at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, which resulted in one detainee’s death and injuries to two others before the assailant ended his own life, were still unknown as of Thursday.
Authorities identified the man accused of shooting from a rooftop into an ICE transport van on Wednesday as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn. This information was provided by a law enforcement source, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, which was shared with The Associated Press.
FBI Director Kash Patel shared an image on social media that displayed a bullet found at the crime scene with the words “ANTI-ICE” inscribed on it. In response, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered increased security measures at ICE facilities across the country, as announced on the Department of Homeland Security’s social media page.
But no ICE agents were wounded in the shooting.
This incident is the most recent in a series of targeted deadly attacks in the U.S., occurring just two weeks after the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk by a gunman, amid rising tensions over immigration policies which have exacerbated criticism of ICE officers and escalated concerns within immigrant communities.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association highlighted that the tragic event serves as a “stark reminder that each immigration case number represents a human life deserving dignity, safety, and respect.”
“Regardless of whether they are individuals engaging with the immigration process, public service personnel fulfilling their roles, or professionals operating within the system, everyone should be protected from violence and fear,” the association stressed in a public statement.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that shots were fired “indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in the sallyport,” a secure and gated entryway.
The wounded detainees were in critical condition at a hospital, according to DHS.
‘Targeted violence’
Authorities have given few details about the shooting and did not release the names of the victims or the gunman.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.”
The gunman used a bolt-action rifle, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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 took people who were inside to a more secure area and said there was an active shooter.
“I was afraid for my family, because my family was outside. I felt terrible, because I thought something could happen to them,” Cardona said, adding that they were later reunited.
The ICE facility is along Interstate 35 East, just southwest of Dallas Love Field, a large airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, and blocks from hotels.
Who was Joshua Jahn?
Hours after the shooting, FBI agents gathered at a suburban Dallas home that public records link to Jahn.
It sits on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in a neighborhood dotted with one- and two-story brick homes. The street was blocked by a Fairview police vehicle, and officials wearing FBI jackets could be seen in the front yard.
A spokesperson for Collin College in nearby McKinney, said via email that a Joshua Jahn studied there “at various times” between 2013 and 2018.
In late 2017, Jahn drove cross-country to work a minimum-wage job harvesting marijuana for several months, said Ryan Sanderson, owner of a legal cannabis farm in Washington state.
“He’s a young kid, a thousand miles from home, didn’t really seem to have any direction, living out of his car at such a young age,” Sanderson told the AP.
Calls for an end to political violence
Shortly after the shooting and before officials said at least one victim was a detainee, Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents Texas, continued in that direction, calling for an end to political violence.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, an advocacy group, said the shootings are “a heartbreaking reminder of the violence and fear that too often touch the lives of migrants and the communities where they live.”
Noem: ICE agents targeted
Noem noted a recent uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
On July 4, attackers in black, military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. One police officer was injured. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
Days later, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents leaving a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a responding police officer before authorities shot and killed him.
In suburban Chicago, federal authorities erected a fence around an immigration processing center after tensions flared with protesters. President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in the Chicago area, resulting in hundreds of arrests.
Attacks, escapes concern at some ICE offices
Dozens of field offices across the country house administrative employees and are used for people summoned for check-in appointments and to process people arrested before they are transferred to long-term detention centers. They are not designed to hold people in custody.
Security varies by location, with some in federal buildings and others mixed with private businesses, said John Torres, a former acting director of the agency and former head of what is now called its enforcement and removals division.
Some, like Dallas, have exposed loading areas for buses, which pose risks for escape and outside attack, Torres said. Other vulnerabilities are nearby vantage points for snipers and long lines forming outside without protection.
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Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press journalists Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Jeff Martin and R.J. Rico in Atlanta, Sophia Tareen in Chicago, Mike Balsamo in New York, Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Julio Cortez in Dallas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
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