NOTE: The information in this article comes from CNN. Updates are expected at this link.
The dead gunman in the Dallas ambush that left five officers dead has been identified as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson of Mesquite, Texas, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. Johnson had no criminal record or known terror ties, a law enforcement official said.
Johnson had served in the U.S. Army Reserve, two U.S. officials said.
A neighbor said there are police cars outside Johnson’s home. Wayne Bynoe, the neighbor, told CNN that Johnson lived with his mother and “keeps to himself.”
The suspect told negotiators that he was upset about recent police shootings, that he wanted to kill white people — especially white officers — and that he acted alone, the city’s police chief told reporters Friday.
Police killed the suspect with an explosive device after a standoff that lasted for hours, Chief David Brown said.
“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,” Brown said. “Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is deceased as a result of detonating the bomb.”
Five police officers were killed and seven others were injured in the ambush, which began during a protest over police violence Thursday night, officials have said. It was the deadliest single incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11, 2001. Two civilians also were injured in the shootings, the Dallas mayor’s office said.
The deadly gunfire erupted in Dallas as videos showing two African-American men shot by police in Louisiana and Minnesota spurred protests and debate over police use of force across the country.
The Dallas police chief told reporters it’s too soon to speculate on the suspect’s motives, and it’s unclear whether more suspects are on the loose.
“We’re hurting. Our profession is hurting. There are no words to describe the atrocity that happened in our city,” he said. “All I know is that this must stop — this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.”
