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3 days ago
Updated
A shooter opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas on Wednesday, killing two detainees and critically wounding a third, investigators said. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and left behind ammunition with what officials described as anti-ICE language.
No law enforcement agents were hurt in the shooting, but investigators suggested it was a targeted attack aimed at immigration enforcement agents. Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, posted an image on social media of ammunition he said belonged to the shooter, with one round bearing the phrase “ANTI-ICE” in what appeared to be blue writing.
The gunman, whose name was not released, shot from a nearby rooftop, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. The statement, which described the shooter as a “sniper,” said the gunman had fired indiscriminately, including at a van in an entrance area where the victims were shot.
Officials at a news conference in the hours after the shooting urged an end to politically motivated violence, and cast blame on harsh rhetoric directed at immigration enforcement agents. “Politically motivated violence is wrong,” said Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. “We should not be putting language out there that inspires madmen.”
Here’s what to know:
Witness account: A witness described hearing what she believed were fireworks before noticing smoking coming from a nearby building. The witness, Arianny Sierra, 25, said her husband went into the facility around 6 a.m. for a check-in in his asylum case. She and their 9-year-old son were waiting for him to return when the shooting happened, and crouched in the front seat of their car until officers arrived and escorted them into the facility. Read more ›
The scene: The Dallas ICE facility, located on a service road of the North Stemmons Freeway, is a field office, typically used to process detainees after they have been arrested and before they are taken to a long-term detention facility. More than 8,400 people have passed through the building since President Trump took office. The facility, in a largely commercial area of northwestern Dallas, has been the site of weekly morning prayer vigils, where a few dozen people from the community who support immigration raise signs and wave encouragement to immigrants on their way in to their appointments.
Previous violence: The shooting was the second at a federal immigration facility in Texas in recent months. A police officer was shot in July outside an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas. Ten people were charged in that shooting.
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The shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas on Wednesday was the second this year at one of the agency’s facilities in Texas.
On July 4, a police officer was shot in the neck outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas — less than 40 miles from the Dallas facility — in what prosecutors have said was an ambush.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, that shooting took place after a group of 10 to 12 people set off fireworks outside the Prairieland Detention Center that night. Not long after, one or two people from the group broke off and began spray-painting graffiti on nearby vehicles and a guard structure, scrawling the words “Ice pig” and “traitor” on a pair of cars, the complaint said.
The officer arrived at the scene around 11 p.m. After he stepped out of his car, the complaint said, two shooters opened fire from a wooded area next to the detention facility, firing numerous rounds and wounding the officer in the neck. He was flown to a hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
Investigators said later that they found spent ammunition where the shooters had been standing, of a type typically used in AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles.
A detective with the Johnson County sheriff’s office pulled over a van that had been seen leaving the scene, and the driver told the authorities about having transported several people to the detention center to “make some noise,” according to charging documents. The authorities reported finding a handgun, two AR-15-style rifles, two Kevlar ballistic-style vests and a ballistic helmet in the van.
Prosecutors have charged more than a dozen people in connection with the shooting in Alvarado, and have said that the fireworks, vandalism and shooting were part of a coordinated plan to ambush local and federal law enforcement officers. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 30.
An organization that represents relatives and friends of people who were arrested over the episode disputes that characterization, saying that many of the people who were present that night believed they were attending a nonviolent protest.
There have been numerous protests and demonstrations at federal facilities across the country over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Some protests, including ones in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, have involved vandalism and scuffles with law enforcement officers, who have sometimes deployed tear gas and flash-bang grenades against demonstrators.
In contrast with the July attack in Alvarado, the shooting victims in Dallas on Wednesday were detainees, hit by indiscriminate fire, the authorities said. No law enforcement officers were shot, they added.
Leaders of LULAC in Texas, the oldest Latino civil rights organization, who have been decrying the mass deportation of Latinos, said that violence is never the answer. The shooting at a Dallas ICE facility killed two detainees, the authorities said, though the victims’ identities were not released. “No family should suffer such pain,” said Gabriel Rosales, the state director of the group.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Republican of Texas, said in a statement that the shooting would not impede his state’s work with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE “to arrest, detain and deport any individuals in this country illegally — without interruption.”
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Two people who were at the immigration facility early this morning said they were waiting for relatives who were going through immigration proceedings when they heard gunshots. They crouched in their cars for safety, they said, but struggled in the darkness to see who was firing.
Denise Robleto, 38, said she was in a van in the parking lot waiting for her mother to come back from a check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on her asylum case when the shooting started. Ms. Robleto had been trying to encourage a young woman she had just met who was nervous about reporting to immigration authorities. As soon as they heard the popping sounds, Ms. Robleto said, the woman and her baby hopped in the car. They saw smoke coming from a nearby law office building. “It was one shot after another after another after another,” Ms. Robleto said. “But I could not leave — my mother was inside.”
Officers eventually arrived, and she and other witnesses were rounded up in a room inside the building, where she was reunited with her mother. Ms. Robleto said she was concerned that the shooting would inject more tension into a Latino community already living under the constant fear of ICE raids.
“I hope officers remember that in a situation like this, they are here to protect everyone,” she said, “regardless of whether they have papers or not.”
Arianny Sierra, 25, said her husband went into the facility just before 6 a.m. for a check-in for his asylum case. She and their 9-year-old son were waiting for him in the parking lot when they heard a series of pops.
“I thought they were fireworks,” she said, but then they noticed sparks and smoke coming from a nearby building. She panicked, grabbed her son and jumped into their car.
They huddled in the front seat trying to hide until officers arrived and escorted them into the facility. Inside, they were reunited with her husband, she said, but it was chaos.
Two ICE detainees were killed in the shooting, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. A third detainee who was shot was in critical condition, the statement said.
The gunman, a sniper who opened fire from a nearby rooftop, fired indiscriminately at the ICE building in Dallas, including at a van in an entrance area where the victims were shot, the Department of Homeland Security statement added.
The photo posted by F.B.I. Director Kash Patel appeared to be rifle-caliber ammunition affixed to a clip. It is common for military surplus ammunition to be sold to the public in that configuration.
The Dallas ICE field office is part office building and part processing center for detainees. Part of the building is where ICE agents have desks and cubicles to do administrative work, and where some immigrants have check-in appointments for their cases. The other part of the building has a secured entrance where detainees are brought into custody and will undergo fingerprinting and a biometric screening. Afterward, they are released or held in what’s known as a “hold room,” a large holding area that has held, on average, more than 55 people a day this year who are awaiting transfer to a long-term ICE detention facility.
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After officials said at a news conference that rounds found near the gunman contained messages that were “anti-ICE in nature,” Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., posted an image of rounds he said belonged to the gunman. Only one of them had a message, reading “ANTI-ICE” in what appeared to be blue writing.
Law enforcement officials and elected officials shared few details during their news conference and did not give the motivation for the shooting, but they urged an end to rhetoric attacking federal immigration agents. “This needs to stop. Violence is wrong. Politically motivated violence is wrong,” said Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. “We should not be putting language out there that inspires madmen.”
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The head of the F.B.I. field office in Dallas said in the news conference that rounds found near the shooter contained messages that were “anti-ICE in nature.”
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One person was killed and two others were wounded, according to officials at the news conference. The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, they said. No members of law enforcement were hurt in the attack.
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Arianny Sierra, 25, said her husband went into the ICE facility near 6 a.m. for a check-in in his asylum case. She and their 9-year-old son were waiting for him in the parking lot outside when they heard a series of popping sounds. “I thought they were fireworks,” she said, but then they noticed sparks and smoke coming from a nearby law office building. She panicked, grabbed her son and jumped into their car.
They crouched in the front seat trying to keep hidden until officers arrived and escorted them into the ICE facility check-in area. Inside, it was chaos, she said.
A law enforcement official in Texas, who was briefed on the ongoing investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that investigators were looking into all possible motives for the shooting, observing that detainees were among the victims and not federal agents.
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Pat Lyons
The ICE facility is on the service road of a freeway in northwestern Dallas, about a mile and a half from Love Field. Though the area is mainly commercial, a large apartment complex has been built recently just to the south of the facility.
Mary Beth Gahan
Reporting from Dallas
The facility is next to Interstate 35, within sights of downtown Dallas. It is raining, and the massive law enforcement presence is making usual rush hour traffic even more of a crawl. Dallas Police and multiple unmarked cars are sitting with their lights on as far as a half-mile away. Masked agents are walking around. There are at least two immigration law offices behind the facility.
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Tawnell Hobbs
The Dallas ICE center has been the site of weekly morning prayer vigils, where a few dozen community members in support of immigration raise signs with messages like “families belong together” and “due process,” and wave encouragement to immigrants on their way in to their appointments.
The shooting occurred at the Dallas ICE field office, a building that is typically used to process detainees after they’ve been arrested and before they are transported to a long-term detention facility. More than 8,400 people have passed through the building since President Trump took office, with the vast majority spending less than 24 hours there before being moved elsewhere.
The Dallas Police Department said in a social media post that the shooter opened fire from a nearby building, killing one person at the scene. Two others were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds, the police said.
The Dallas Police Department said the shooting occurred at about 6:40 a.m. local time.
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Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of homeland security, told Fox News that detainees were among the victims. No federal agents were shot, she said. “We know our law enforcement was not injured, but we’re not sure about local security and other local law enforcement,” she said.
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