Dallas ICE Suspect 'Hated the Government'

The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas hated the US government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents, officials said Thursday, offering the first hint of a motive in the attack. The shooting at daybreak Wednesday targeted the ICE building, including a van in a gated entryway that held detainees, the AP reports. One detainee was killed, and two others were critically wounded. No ICE personnel were hurt.

• The gunman, who fatally shot himself, "carried out a targeted, ambush-style attack on law enforcement," said Joseph Rothrock, the agent in charge of the FBI Dallas field office. He "specifically intended to kill ICE agents," firing at ICE vehicles and sending multiple shots into "the windows of the office building where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day."
• In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the gunman left behind a note saying that he hoped the attack would "give ICE agents real terror." On Wednesday, Patel posted a photo showing a bullet found at the scene with "ANTI-ICE" written on it. The assailant, who authorities said fired from a nearby rooftop, was involved in a "high degree of pre-attack planning," Patel said.

• The assailant appeared to have acted alone. Nancy Larson, the acting US attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said investigators found a collection of notes at his residence. One of them said, "Yes, it was just me." Other notes were sharply critical of ICE agents and indicated he hoped to avoid hurting any detainees. "The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured," Larson said, per CNN.
• Hours before the shooting, the assailant conducted multiple internet searches for ballistics information and video of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Patel said. Last month, the man searched for apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents, he added.
• Authorities confirmed that the suspect is Joshua Jahn, 29. The New York Times reports that Jahn grew up in Dallas and had a few "minor scrapes with the law," including a 2015 arrest on suspicions of selling marijuana. Records show that he voted in a Democratic primary in Texas in 2020 and was registered as an independent in Oklahoma, where he voted in the general election last year.
• The Times reports that he had an extensive online presence, but apparently tended to discuss subjects like video games, marijuana, and South Park, not politics. Larson, however, noted that he may have destroyed evidence, the Wall Street Journal reports. She said that in his notes, Jahn wrote, "Good luck with the digital footprint."