KEY POINTS:
- Shooter identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn of Fairview, Texas, according to NBC News citing multiple law enforcement sources
- Anti-ICE messages found written on ammunition near shooter’s body, FBI officials confirmed at press conference
- Two ICE detainees dead, third in critical condition after shooting at Dallas field office
Law enforcement officials have identified the gunman in Wednesday morning’s deadly attack at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, according to NBC News, citing multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement that the shooter fired “indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in the sallyport where the victims were shot.” According to Fox 4 Dallas, FBI sources said Jahn was on the roof of a law firm building behind the Dallas ICE facility and fired into an unmarked van with an ATF driver that was bringing detainees to the facility.
Joe Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, said at a Wednesday press conference that rounds “found near the suspected shooter contain messages that are anti-ICE in nature.” FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X a photo of five unspent bullet casings, with one engraved with the phrase “ANTI ICE,” according to multiple news outlets.
Shooter’s Background
NBC News reported that Jahn voted in the Democratic primary in March 2020 and hasn’t voted since then, according to records provided by the Collin County Elections Department. Court records show that in 2016, when Jahn was 19 years old, he was charged with delivering more than one-fourth ounce of marijuana, NBC News reported. He pleaded guilty and the case was deferred, with Jahn being placed on probation, according to Collin County court records cited by NBC.
Noah Jahn, the suspect’s brother, told NBC News that Joshua “didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew.” NBC reported that Noah described his brother as “unique” without elaborating, but said Joshua was not one he would have ever thought would be involved in a politically motivated shooting.
Fox 4 Dallas reported that law enforcement responded to two addresses – one in Fairview, Texas, and one in Durant, Oklahoma – potentially connected to the suspect.
The Attack
The shooting occurred around 6:30-6:40 a.m. at the ICE facility on North Stemmons Freeway in Dallas, according to multiple sources. DHS said in its statement that three detainees were shot, with one deceased at the scene and two in critical condition. NBC News later confirmed through an ICE spokesperson that two of the three people shot had died.
ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan told Fox News, as reported by CNN, that the three detainees who were shot “were in the country illegally, had been arrested and were awaiting transfer to a longer-term facility.”
Witness Accounts
NPR interviewed Mayra, a migrant from Nicaragua who was inside the ICE facility for her immigration check-in. “I started hearing gunshots and I got so scared because my daughter was waiting for me outside,” she told NPR. Mayra said she heard about 20 gunshots and “at times she could feel the bullets hitting the building.”
The Dallas News reported that Edwin Cardona, a Dallas resident from Venezuela, was inside with his 6-year-old son for his third check-in when the gunfire erupted. “The situation was terrifying,” Cardona told the newspaper in Spanish.
Josh Freais, a cook who arrived near the shooting, told The Dallas News he heard a total of 10 shots over the span of 60 to 90 seconds, with the bangs spaced out by several seconds.
Political Response
Vice President JD Vance called the shooting an “obsessive attack on law enforcement” that “must stop,” according to CNN and NBC News. Vance said during remarks in North Carolina, as reported by ABC News, that evidence shows the shooter was a “left-wing extremist” who was “politically motivated to go after people who are enforcing our border.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott posted on X, according to NBC News: “This assassination will NOT slow our arrest, detention, & deportation of illegal immigrants.” Abbott added that the state would work with ICE and Dallas Police to determine the motive.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement reported by multiple outlets: “For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed. This shooting must serve as a wake-up call.”
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement quoted by CNN: “We are better than this craven act of violence. In moments like this, our city must stand together and support one another. We must heal.”
Senator Ted Cruz, speaking at the press conference as reported by NPR and others, said: “Look, in America, we disagree. That’s fine. That’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis.”
Democratic Representative Marc Veasey told WFAA-TV, according to PBS, that he was “absolutely sickened” by some officials’ comments at the news conference, suggesting they were trying to control the narrative.
Pattern of Violence
CNN reported this marked at least the fourth attack or threat on ICE or CBP facilities in Texas this year. The Dallas News noted that the same Dallas ICE facility faced a bomb threat on August 25, when 36-year-old Bratton Dean Wilkinson claimed to have a bomb in his backpack, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.
ABC News reported that two Texas facilities were targeted in July: a police officer was shot at an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, and a gunman opened fire at the entrance of the Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen.
Joshua Johnson, acting director of the ICE Dallas Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas Field Office, said at the press conference according to multiple outlets: “This is the second time I’ve had to stand in front of you and talk about a shooter at one of my facilities. The takeaway from all of this is that the rhetoric has to stop.”
Investigation Continues
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted on X, according to CNN: “The FBI is fully engaged, in conjunction with our state and federal law enforcement partners, at the crime scene in Dallas.”
Rothrock said at the press conference, as reported by Fox 4: “If any member of the public has information that would help the FBI’s investigation, I would ask that you please report that to 1-800-CALL-FBI.”
The Dallas News reported that the ICE facility remained closed as federal agents secured the area and gathered evidence.
