“He was upset about Black Lives Matter”, Brown said, adding that the man cited the recent killings of black people and said that he wanted to kill white people – particularly white police officers.
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“What we will say to them, as we have said to them, is in the same way that you do not judge all African Americans in a stereotypical way or Latinos or Jews or Gentiles or any group in the country, we can not judge law enforcement through the prism of stereotype, of generalization”, Brooks said.
Brown said police don’t have a motivation for the attacks or any information on the suspects. “He said he was upset about the recent police shootings”.
One suspect was killed by a robot with a bomb that police sent into a parking garage. Brown focused on the efforts of the officers to bring in a fourth suspect and updates on the previous three. “There’s no possible justification for these kinds of attacks, or any violence against law enforcement”. The area is only a few blocks away from Dealey Plaza, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. He was killed by a police-controlled remote explosive device about 45 minutes after authorities began trying to negotiate with him.
Tonight it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally.
The Dallas Police Department has seen decreases in excessive force complaints, arrests and officer-involved shootings as the force shifted to focus its training and practices on de-escalation and community policing.
The Dallas shooting happened as otherwise largely peaceful protests unfolded around the United States after the police shooting of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man, on Wednesday during a traffic stop near St. Paul, Minnesota.
Among the officers gunned down Thursday was 43-year-old Brent Thompson, who worked for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Brown told reporters that snipers fired “ambush-style” on the officers.
Witnesses said protesters were marching peacefully in downtown Dallas when the gunfire started Thursday night. Seven other officers were wounded and two civilians were injured.
Most of the officers who were injured Thursday night have now been released from medical care, Brown said, while some still need more treatment. Mayor Rawlings said he did not believe either had life-threatening injuries.
Three other suspects are in custody, Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown said.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit police Chief James Spiller described Thompson on Friday as a “courageous” and “great guy”.
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Dallas police said on Friday that they used a robot bomb to kill one of the shooting suspects who was in a standoff with officers overnight. Police cornered that suspect in a parking structure in the heart of the city and exchanged gunfire with him. In times like these we must remember – and emphasize – the importance of uniting as Americans.
