(DALLAS) — The sniper who opened fire on the Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, killing one detainee and wounding two detainees, allegedly left behind a note about looking to stoke fear for ICE agents.
The handwritten note said, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement on Thursday, the note referring to armor-piercing bullets.
Patel said the sniper — identified by sources as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn — allegedly had searches last month on apps that track ICE agents and he allegedly downloaded a document called “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management,” which has a list of DHS facilities.
“He conducted multiple searches of ballistics and the ‘Charlie Kirk Shot Video'” on Tuesday and Wednesday, Patel said.
Patel said more evidence shows “a high degree” of planning from Jahn, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Jahn allegedly “fired indiscriminately” at the ICE building on Wednesday morning, killing one ICE detainee and critically wounding two others, one of whom is a Mexican national.
Detainees were being loaded out of a van when the gunfire erupted, according to a senior ICE official. Some detainees were still in the van when the shots rang out, and ICE agents ran back into the gunfire to bring the rest of them to safety in a move that “likely saved more lives,” the official said.
While no officers were injured, the Department of Homeland Security said the shooting was “an attack on ICE law enforcement.”
On Wednesday the FBI released an image of recovered bullets, including one engraved with the phrase “ANTI-ICE,” and DHS released a photo that appears to show a gunshot in an American flag display.
Vice President JD Vance said during remarks in North Carolina on Wednesday that evidence that hadn’t been released showed the shooter was a “left-wing extremist” who was “politically motivated to go after people who are enforcing our border.”
The FBI said the shooting is being investigated “as an act of targeted violence,” and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said he would put all ICE facilities on a higher alert.
The shooting comes amid ramped up ICE deportation efforts throughout the country and the DHS said that ICE officers have faced a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them. Two Texas facilities were targeted this July: a police officer was shot at an ICE detention facility in Alvarado and a gunman opened fire at the entrance of the Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen.
Officials said that attacks on ICE and law enforcement must end.
“Our prayers are with the families of those killed and our ICE law enforcement. This vile attack was motivated by hatred for ICE,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed. This shooting must serve as a wake-up call.”
President Donald Trump wrote on social media, “This is despicable! The Brave Men and Women of ICE are just trying to do their jobs, and remove the ‘WORST of the WORST’ Criminals out of our Country, but they are facing an unprecedented increase in threats, violence, and attacks by Deranged Radical Leftists.”
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