DALLAS, July 7 (UPI) — Dallas Police Chief David Brown said a single gunman who opened fire on a crowd, killing five Dallas police officers, was in an hours-long standoff with law enforcement and wanted to kill “white people, especially white officers.”
The gunman, who was not identified, expressed disdain for the Black Lives Matter movement, Brown said. The gunman died when police detonated an explosive during the standoff. Brown said the gunman indicated he was the only person involved in the shooting, but authorities are continuing to investigate others possibly involved. Brown described the attack as carefully planned and executed. He said three people have been taken into custody but are not being cooperative.
“We’re not satisfied that we’ve exhausted every lead,” Brown said. “If there is someone out there who is associated with this, we will find you, we will prosecute you.”
Brown said the gunman told police he was angry about fatal police shootings this week in Louisiana and Minnesota and “he was upset about Black Lives Matter.”
“He said he was upset about the recent police shootings,” Brown said. “The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.”
A peaceful demonstration protesting the police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota exploded into violence Thursday about 9 p.m., sending protesters running through the streets for safety. Seven police officers and two civilians were also injured in the attack.
Brown said many of the injured officers have been released from the hospital but would not go into detail about the extent of injuries.
Three of the slain officers were members of the Dallas Police Department. The fourth was a member of the Dallas transit police. Two were identified as Officer Patrick Zamarripa, and Brent Thompson, 43, a transit police officer.
Late Thursday, the Dallas Morning News reported at least one suspect was tracked to a parking garage, where he was hiding on the second story, when a shootout took place. Officers attempted negotiations and exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
Texas Gov. Rick Abbott cut short an out-of-state trip and was headed to Dallas early Friday. At noon, the city will host a group of interfaith ministers for a group prayer to “bring out city together and our country together to heal wounds, not create them,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.
The attacks came as demonstrators gathered in cities nationwide to protest police shootings of African-Americans in two incidents: Alton Sterling was shot to death on Tuesday by Baton Rouge, La., police after being held down by police officers, and Wednesday Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer in Minnesota.
