Five police officers have been shot dead by snipers at a Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, Texas.
The officers, the first of whom has been named this morning as Brent Thompson, were among 11 shot during a demonstration following the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police in Louisiana and Minnesota respectively this week.
DART identifies Brent Thompson, 43, as DART officer killed in #Dallas shooting https://t.co/TdfButTCF2 pic.twitter.com/aCLKESHhDa
— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) July 8, 2016
One suspect was arrested during a shootout with police, while another suspect, a photo of whom had been released by the Police Department as a ‘Person of Interest’, turned himself in on Thursday night. A third suspect, said to be a woman, is also in custody.
This is one of our suspects. Please help us find him! pic.twitter.com/Na5T8ZxSz6
— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the killers were “working together with rifles, triangulating from elevated positions” in order to hit as many people as possible.
As shots rang out, terrified people ran for cover, with one group bravely gathering around a baby in a buggy to protect the child from the attack.
Heart moving scene in #Dallas shooting, blacks and whites covering with their bodies a baby stroller pic.twitter.com/COFAgoPz0i
— Abraxas Spa (@AbraxasSpa) July 8, 2016
All downtown Dallas bus and rail operations have been stopped and many county buildings will remain closed today while police officers investigate a suspect package left in the area after a suspect told police there are “bombs all over Dallas.”
This was all planned ! Those who organized will be brought to justice. Another officer down
— Dallas Police Assoc (@DPA_PoliceAssoc) July 8, 2016
Hundreds of people had descended on downtown Dallas in protest at the shootings of Sterling and Castile and according to reports, the protest had been proceeding peacefully until approximately 9pm local time, when shots were fired in the direction of ten police officers by two snipers located in elevated positions.
Hours earlier, President Barack Obama addressed the police shootings, saying:
“When incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the colour of their skin, they are not being treated the same, and that hurts, and that should trouble all of us,”
“This is not just a black issue, not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we all should care about.”
