The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas hated the US government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents, officials said Thursday, offering the first hint of a motive in the attack.
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Citing handwritten notes found at his suburban home, authorities said 29-year-old Joshua Jahn set out to ambush the agency and then fatally shot himself following the assault.
The shooting at daybreak Wednesday targeted the ICE office building, including a van in a gated entryway that held detainees. One detainee was killed, and two others were critically wounded. No ICE personnel were hurt.
Jahn “specifically intended to kill ICE agents”, firing at vehicles carrying ICE personnel, federal agents and detainees. “He also fired multiple shots in the windows of the office building where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day,” said Joseph Rothrock, agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office.”
Jahn’s notes indicated “that he did not expect to survive this event,” Rothrock said. “He wanted to cause terror.”
The gunman, who authorities said fired indiscriminately from a nearby rooftop, was involved in a “high degree of pre-attack planning,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media.