Two killed, one injured in shooting at Dallas immigration office; suspect also found dead
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Personnel loading the body of the alleged gunman into the back of a van at the scene of the shooting, in Dallas, Texas, on Sept 24.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- A gunman attacked an ICE field office in Dallas, killing two detainees and wounding one other person before killing themselves.
- The shooter had "ANTI-ICE" written on unused bullet casings, indicating a possible ideological motive behind the targeted violence.
- This attack follows increased tensions and conflict surrounding ICE facilities and policies, including protests and prior shootings.
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DALLAS, Texas - A gunman who wrote “ANTI-ICE” on an unused bullet killed two detainees and wounded another on Sept 24 at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas before taking their own life, officials said.
FBI director Kash Patel posted a photo on X of what he said were the suspect’s unspent shell casings that showed one with the words “ANTI-ICE” written along the side.
“While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack,” Mr Patel wrote.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the suspect fired “indiscriminately” at the ICE building, including at a van in the building’s secured entryway where the victims were shot.
At a news briefing in Dallas, officials disclosed the existence of the shell casings but emphasised that the investigation was still in its early stages. Authorities were treating the attack as an “act of targeted violence,” Mr Joseph Rothrock, special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, told reporters.
Officials did not offer any details about the suspect’s identity.
The shooter opened fire on the office from an adjacent building around 6.40am local time (7.40pm in Singapore), police said. Two people were transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds, while a third person died at the scene.
Law enforcement officers were not injured in the shooting, officials said.
The attack took place at an ICE field office, not a detention facility, where ICE officers conduct short-term processing of recently-arrested detainees.
Law enforcement officers outside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas after the shooting.
PHOTO: SHELBY TAUBER/NYTIMES
“It looked like it might have been a sniper or some sort of a long-form shot,” Ms Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox News’ Fox And Friends earlier on Sept 24.
The incident comes two weeks after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
President Donald Trump, Vice-President J.D. Vance and other administration officials have blamed, without proof, liberal organisations for fomenting unrest and encouraging violence against the right.
On Sept 22, Mr Trump signed an executive order declaring the anti-fascist movement antifa
The Trump administration’s aggressive use of ICE agents as part of its crackdown on undocumented immigrants has sparked outcries from Democrats and liberal activists. ICE detention facilities have increasingly become sites of conflict, with heavily armed agents deploying pepper ball guns, tear gas and other chemical agents in clashes with protesters.
Law enforcement personnel at the scene of the Sept 24 shooting in Dallas, Texas.
PHOTO: REUTERS
An ICE facility in suburban Chicago, where protesters have gathered daily since a Trump administration immigration surge began earlier this month, erected fencing on Sept 22 after several demonstrators, including the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, were injured in a clash with agents last week.
The Sept 24 attack was the third shooting this year in Texas at a Department of Homeland Security facility. A police officer was shot in a July incident at an ICE detention centre in Prairieland, and a 27-year-old Michigan man was shot dead by agents after opening fire on a US Border Patrol station in McAllen in July. REUTERS