The sniper who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas Wednesday morning intended to kill immigration agents, not detainees, federal authorities said Thursday.
Joshua Jahn, 29, sprayed bullets indiscriminately into the facility as he stood on a nearby rooftop, killing one detainee and leaving two others seriously injured before turning the gun on himself. After conducting a search of his home, authorities found chilling notes Jahn left behind that revealed he hoped to inflict “terror” on the agents and that also read “yes, it was just me,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson said during a press conference Thursday.
Jahn also left notes that said ICE agents are merely working “to collect a dirty paycheck” and he “intended to maximize lethality against” them and “to maximize property damage at the facility,” while hoping “to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainees and any other innocent people,” Larson said.
Credit: Collin County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office
“It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them. It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel. The tragic irony… is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the sallyport,” Larson said.
FBI Director Kash Patel earlier revealed that Jahn allegedly left bullet casings engraved with the phrase “ANTI-ICE” on them, revealing the “ideological motive” behind the attack.
Patel also noted that the FBI found that Jahn “conducted multiple searches of ballistics and the ‘Charlie Kirk Shot Video’” in the days leading up to the shooting. The shooter used applications created to track ICE agents’ whereabouts and downloaded a list of Department of Homeland Security facilities before the attack, Patel said.
Jahn had planned the attack for “months,” Joseph Rothrock, the FBI Special Agent in Charge for Dallas, said Thursday.
ICE officers under fire worked to offload the injured detainees from agency vans as Jahn was firing, Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations, said during Thursday’s presser.
“The evidence is clear that this was an intended assault on ICE personnel who come to work every day to do their job,” Charles said.
“Those ICE officers just showed the world who they really are: law enforcement officers who want the best for our country, that’s ICE integrity, courage, excellence. They were willing to put their lives on the line to pull detainees out of the transport van to get them to safety. They are heroes, and I hope the media has the integrity to shine a light on this story. Enough is enough with the harmful lies and rhetoric, and it has to stop,” he added.
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