Brown said preliminary evidence suggests the suspects positioned themselves above the protest march in a manner to “triangulate” what was, to that point, a peaceful demonstration of the police killings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota in the previous days, two incidents that were captured by witnesses and widely distributed online. Police also say the suspect claimed to have planted multiple bombs throughout the garage and downtown.
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The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. (CST) Thursday.
Video posted online showed protesters marching when the shots rang out, scattering the crowd. UPDATE: The man’s brother has come forth and said he has no relationship with the shooting, the gun was not loaded, and he gave the gun to police. At the time of the news conference, he said police had cornered one suspect in a parking garage and negotiations were underway.
KABC-TV says there was a heavy police presence and officers were taking cover behind vehicles on the street. At least one suspicious package has been secured by a bomb squad.
Earlier Thursday, Dallas police circulated a photo of a person of interest in the crime earlier in the night.
Local media station KDFW report that three to six police officers are “gravely wounded”. “Tap tap pause.” “Everyone just started running”, Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News.
Officers followed two suspects with camouflage bags in a black Mercedes auto and they are in custody and being interviewed.
Pointing to statistics showing African-American citizens are far more likely to be shot by police by whites, Mr Obama called on law enforcement to root out internal bias. Another alleged suspect was in a shootout with Dallas SWAT officers.
Rawlings said at the news conference that authorities will likely ask some people to stay away from downtown Dallas on Friday. Three of the injured officers reportedly were in critical condition and two others were in surgery.
“An intensive search” for suspects is now underway, the statement said. Chief Brown says two snipers opened fire on the crowd from elevated positions.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement he’s cutting an out-of-state trip short and is heading to Dallas.
According to the official Twitter page for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, four DART officers were shot.
An officer on the scene confirmed that at least two officers were shot but their conditions are unknown.
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Police said officers followed the vehicle southbound on Interstate 35 to a point south of Dallas where they performed a traffic stop. “The shots were coming from the roof”, a protester told KTVT television, a CBS affiliate.
