The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas hated the U.S. government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents, officials said at a news conference Thursday.
The shooting at daybreak Wednesday targeted the ICE building, including a van in a gated entryway that held detainees. One detainee was killed, and two other were critically wounded. No ICE personnel were hurt.
The gunman, Joshua Jahn, 29, who fatally shot himself, “carried out a targeted, ambush-style attack on law enforcement,” said Joseph Rothrock, the agent in charge of the FBI Dallas field office.
He said the manner in which Jahn carried out the shooting suggested he “specifically intended to kill ICE agents.”
Jahn fired at ICE vehicles and fired multiple shots into “the windows of the office building where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day,” Rothrock said.
Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said investigators found a collection of notes at his residence that suggested he acted alone. One of them said, “Yes, it was just me.” Other notes were sharply critical of ICE agents and indicated he hoped to avoid hurting any detainees.
Not affiliated with any group
Investigators have not found that the gunman was a member of any particular group or entity, Larson said. And while he broadly wrote about hatred of the federal government, he did not mention any federal agencies other than ICE, she said.
Officials repeatedly cited writings that had been found at the shooter’s home, saying Jahn had written that he intended to “incite terror.”
“He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called ‘human trafficking,”‘ Larson said.
FBI agents investigate the crime scene near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office Thursday in Dallas where one detainee was killed by a gunman firing from a rooftop. The FBI said Thursday that the shooter had ‘intended to kill ICE agents.’ (Tony Gutierrez/The Associated Press )
Investigators also said the shooter researched U.S. Department of Homeland Security facilities and used apps that track ICE agents.
On Wednesday, FBI director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet found at the scene with “ANTI-ICE” written on it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more security at ICE facilities across the U.S., according to a post by the DHS on X.
Recent backlash against stricter immigration enforcement
The attack was the latest high-profile targeted killing in the U.S. It happened two weeks after Kirk was killed by a shooter on the roof of a building at Utah Valley University and as heightened immigration enforcement has prompted a backlash against ICE agents and fear in immigrant communities.
Nancy E. Larson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said authorities found notes at the gunman’s home critical of ICE agents that also indicated he had hoped to avoid hurting any detainees. (Tony Gutierrez/The Associated Press)
On July 4, a police officer was shot in the neck at a Texas immigration detention centre. Attackers dressed in black, military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
On July 7, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents as they were leaving a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, near the U.S.-Mexico border. 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 in his car.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association called the shootings “a stark reminder that behind every immigration case number is a human being deserving of dignity, safety and respect.”
“Whether they are individuals navigating the immigration process, public servants carrying out their duties, or professionals working within the system, all deserve to be free from violence and fear,” the group said in a statement.
Calls for an end to political violence
Shortly after the shooting and before officials said at least one victim was a detainee, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance posted on X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”Â
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents Texas, continued in that direction, calling for an end to political violence.Â
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.”Â
Dozens of immigration 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 centres. They are not designed to hold people in custody.Â
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.