DALLAS (AP) — A shooter with a rifle opened fire from a nearby roof onto a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement location in Dallas on Wednesday, killing one detainee and wounding two others in a transport van before taking his own life, authorities said.
The suspect has been identified by a law enforcement official as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn. The official could not publicly disclose details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The exact motivation for the attack was not immediately known. FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media that showed a bullet found at the scene with the words "ANTI-ICE" written on it in what appeared to be marker.
The attack is the latest public, targeted killing in the U.S. and comes two weeks after conservative leader Charlie Kirk was killed by a rifle-wielding shooter on a roof.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a release that shots were fired "indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in the sallyport," a secure and gated entryway.
The surviving detainees were in critical condition at a hospital, said DHS, which earlier had said two detainees were killed and one was wounded before later issuing a correction.
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."
___
Associated Press reporters Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Jeff Martin and R.J. Rico in Atlanta; Sophia Tareen in Chicago, and photojournalist Julio Cortez in Dallas contributed to this story.
