Dallas Police respond after shots were fired at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas on Thursday, July 7, 2016. Dallas protestors rallied in the aftermath of the killing of Alton Sterling by police officers in Baton Rouge, La. and Philando Castile, who was killed by police less than 48 hours later in Minnesota. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News) ORG XMIT: TXDAM101
Downtown Dallas became a war zone Thursday night when a sniper shooting from a building opened fire on police working a Black Lives Matter demonstration, killing 5 cops and wounding 7 more. Two civilians were also wounded.
Police killed the shooter early Friday morning, after an hours-long standoff, with a robot carrying a bomb. Before he died, the suspect told police he was upset by recent police killings of black people and wanted to kill whites, especially cops. A search of his home indicated extensive planning went into the attack.
Initially, police thought there were multiple shooters, because the gunman kept changing position, creating the impression shots were coming from several places. He later was identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, an Army reservist who served in Afghanistan. Johnson had no criminal record.
About 800 protesters turned out for the rally and march against recent police shootings of black people. About 100 officers were working the event when shots rang out at around 8:45 pm local time. Initially, three officers were reported killed, and two more died later in hospitals. It was the worst single-incident loss of police lives since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
This is a developing story.