Dallas Police said Saturday evening that no suspect was found after a search near the police headquarters. The announcement followed three tense hours near headquarters which included a SWAT team callout and the blocking of nearby Lamar Street in downtown Dallas.
Initially WFAA Television and other Dallas media reported that a lockdown was placed on the police headquarters shortly after 4:00 p.m. for what was described as a “serious threat.” Dallas Police later said the HQ was not placed on lockdown.
The Dallas Morning News (DMN) reported on its website that a man was spotted in a parking garage behind the headquarters. SWAT officers surrounded the building with guns drawn.
Just prior to that, WFAA retweeted a message from one of its reporters, saying, “Multiple sources say Dallas SWAT deployed after a threat was made by a group from Houston that claims they are armed.”
During the incident, police said, “The Dallas Police Department received an anonymous threat against law enforcement across the city and has taken precautionary measures to heightened security.”
The DMN said, “The doors to the complex on South Lamar Street were locked and officers could be seen inside taking a defensive stance at the doors.”
WFAA said officers initiated a city-wide roll call to make sure that all DPD officers are ok.
These events came in the wake of a shooting that left five officers dead Thursday night. Police identified the shooter as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, of Mesquite. Police said Johnson killed the five officers and wounded many more because he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.
The officers were shot during a Thursday evening protest that was intended to be peaceful and draw attention to racial tensions over a number of police-involved incidents nationwide.
Police found Johnson not far from the site of the shooting and used a robot with an explosive device to kill him when police said he refused to surrender.
