‘White cops the target’
Black gunmen aim to avenge 2 deaths
AT LEAST one sniper in Dallas killed five police officers and wounded seven more in a co-ordinated attack that ended when police used a bomb to kill a gunman who told them he wanted to kill white officers, authorities said yesterday.
The attack came during one of several protests across the US against the killing of two black men by police this week, the latest in a long string of killings that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Thursday’s shooting sent protesters running in panic while swarms of police found themselves under attack by what they believed to be multiple gunmen using high-powered rifles at ground level and on rooftops.
The suspect was identified as Micah Johnson, who was a member of the US Army Reserve, a government source said.
During lengthy negotiations with police, the gunman said “the end is coming,” according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown.
“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter,” said Brown, who is black. “He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. He stated that he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.”
The attack came in a week two black men were shot dead by police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and outside Minneapolis. The killings, both now being investigated, inflamed tensions about race and justice in the US.
The shots rang out as a protest in Dallas was winding down, sending marchers screaming and running in panic through the city’s streets.
It was the deadliest day for police in the US since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
A total of 12 police officers and two civilians were shot during the attack, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said. Three of the officers who were shot were women, he said.
Rawlings said the people in custody, including one woman, were “not being co-operative” with police investigators.
He said the assailant, who was dead, was being fingerprinted and his identity checked with federal authorities.
Police were still not certain they knew of all of the individuals involved in the attack.
There was no sign of international links to the attacks, US officials said yesterday.
One of the dead officers was identified as Brent Thompson, 43. He was the first officer killed in the line of duty since Dallas Area Rapid Transit formed a police department in 1989.
Earlier, Brown said the gunmen, some in elevated positions, used rifles to fire at the officers in what appeared to be a co-ordinated attack.
“(They were) working together with rifles, triangulating at elevated positions at different points in the downtown area where the march ended up going,” Brown told a news conference, adding a civilian had also been wounded.
A video taken by a witness shows a man with a rifle crouching at ground level and shooting a person, who appeared to be wearing a uniform, at close range. That person then fell to the ground.
The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed.
President Barack Obama, who was travelling in Poland, expressed his “deepest condolences” to Rawlings on behalf of the US people.
“I believe I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events and we are united with the people and police department in Dallas,” he said.
Obama said the FBI was in contact with Dallas police, and that the federal government would provide assistance.
“We still don’t know all of the facts. What we do know is that there has been a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement.”
The shooting, which erupted shortly before 9pm, occurred near a busy area of the Dallas city centre filled with restaurants, hotels and government buildings.
Rawlings advised people to stay away yesterday morning as police combed the area.
Transport was halted and federal authorities stopped commercial air traffic over the area as police helicopters hovered. – Reuters