Chief Brown also told Tapper that along with the hard to decipher, “rambling” journal discovered at Micah Johnson’s residence, investigators also found bomb-making substances, and other materials that would suggest he had practiced detonations in his home, which officials took to mean he was preparing to take on much larger targets than just officers at a peaceful protest.
Advertisement
Brown said police found bomb-making materials and a journal at the shooter’s home that suggested he’d been practicing detonations and appeared ready to take aim at larger targets. “He seemed very much in control and very determined to hurt other officers”, said the police chief, who revealed that Johnson taunted negotiators and asked them how many officers he had shot.
The parents of gunman Micah Johnson, who killed five police officers during an ambush in Dallas on Thursday, said he was “disappointed” and grew reclusive after being discharged from the US Army in 2015.
At the time of the standoff on Thursday night, Johnson told hostage negotiators that he had been angry about recent fatal shootings of black men by police across the U.S. and wanted to kill white people, especially police officers, Brown confirmed.
Mr Johnson was killed by a robot bomb during a stand-off with 13 police officers.
Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, speaking at a campaign event on Monday, mentioned the events in Dallas and said it’s “time for hostility against police and all law enforcement to end immediately”.
Among Dallas investigators’ current goals: Figure out what Johnson had meant by “RB”, lettering that Brown said he’d written on the wall in blood before his death.
Brown spoke to CNN to discuss the failed negotiations with Johnson, the suspect’s death and the ongoing investigation.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings talks about the deadly attack on police officers in downtown Dallas.
Furthermore, police are now looking for clues to understand the meaning of the letters “RB”, written by Johnson in blood (from his wounds) on a garage wall, where the suspect had held under siege by officers for almost five hours. “I’ll do it again given the same circumstances”, he said. Johnson, who was an army veteran who served in Afghanistan, also refused to speak to white officers, saying he would only negotiate with an African American law enforcement official. “We went to his home, we saw that there was bomb-making equipment later, so it was very important that we realize that he may not be bluffing”. Dallas police later killed Micah by detonating a bomb via a robot.
Advertisement
After all, he viciously murdered five police officers in Dallas last week, along with injuring nine other officers and civilians.
