At least two snipers shot officers who were on duty at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by Louisiana and Minnesota police officers earlier this week.
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“We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was”, he said. The second was identified by a relative on social media as Dallas Police Department officer Patrick Zamarripa.
Dallas Police have confirmed that four of their police officers have died, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has confirmed that one DART officer also died. The police chief said some of the injured officers had been released from the hospital, and others still needed more treatment. He’d joined the DART Police Department in 2009. However, Police Chief David Brown said authorities had three people in custody.The mayor of Dallas, Mike Rawlings, said it was a “heartbreaking moment for the city”.
Three other DART officers, 44-year-old Officer Omar Cannon, 32-year-old Officer Misty McBride and 39-year-old Officer Jesus Retan; had been shot but are expected to recover, a department spokesperson said.
The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday. “Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger”.
One of the gunmen cornered himself in a parking garage at El Centro College.
“The suspect told our negotiators that the end is coming”, Brown said. Police then began questioning both occupants of the vehicle.
Hood says he turned and screamed at the other protesters who were heading his way, “Get back, active shooter”, and started using his cross he often carries on protest walks to push people away.
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The statement said three officers are deceased, two are in surgery and three are in critical condition. He says the snipers shot from “elevated positions” during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings.
