A shooter using a rifle fired from a nearby rooftop at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas on Wednesday, resulting in the death of one detainee and the injury of two others. The shooter then took his own life, as reported by authorities.
Authorities have identified the suspect as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, according to a law enforcement source who provided the information under the condition of anonymity due to the confidential nature of the ongoing investigation.
The specific motive behind the attack remains unclear. The FBI Director, Kash Patel, shared a photo on social media depicting a bullet from the scene, inscribed with the words “ANTI-ICE” in what seems to be marker.
This incident is the most recent in a string of targeted public killings in the U.S., occurring a fortnight after conservative leader Charlie Kirk was fatally shot by an individual armed with a rifle on a rooftop.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that the assailant “fired indiscriminately at the ICE facility, including shots at a van in the sallyport where the victims were hit,” in their announcement about the Dallas incident.
DHS reported that the injured detainees were in critical condition at a hospital. It initially announced two deaths and one injury but later corrected this information.
No ICE agents were injured.
‘Targeted violence’
At a news conference earlier in the day, authorities gave 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.”
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, took them to a more secure area and explained that there was an active shooter, 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.
Officials call for 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 the social platform X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas continued in that direction, 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.
The Rev. Ashley Anne Sipe, who prays outside of the Dallas ICE facility every Monday, called the shooting heartbreaking.
“Violence doesn’t heal anything,” Sipe, a pastor in Lewisville near Dallas, told AP.
Sipe and other local faith leaders who have decried deportations hold weekly vigils and serve as “moral witnesses.” They pray and observe for about three hours, watching as immigrants enter the building to meet with advisers and to report for check-ins.
Over the past couple of months, Sipe said she has noticed that people who walk into the building are shuttled away on buses.
“They’re taking them away, and we don’t know where they’re taking them,” Sipe said.
Noem: ICE agents targeted
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted a recent uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
Attackers dressed in black military-style clothing opened fire July 4 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 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 Mosqueda’s car.
In suburban Chicago, federal authorities erected a fence around an immigration processing center after tensions recently flared with protesters. President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in the Chicago area, resulting in hundreds of arrests.
Ahead of the latest immigration operation, federal officials boarded up windows at the center.
Sixteen people have been arrested outside the center, according to federal authorities who characterized the activists as “rioters.”
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Associated Press reporters Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Jeff Martin and R.J. Rico in Atlanta; and photojournalist Julio Cortez in Dallas contributed to this story.
