Early Wednesday morning, a sniper opened fire on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas, Texas, resulting in one detainee killed and two others critically wounded. The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The shooting unfolded shortly before 7 a.m. Central Time, when Jahn, positioned on a nearby rooftop, fired indiscriminately at the ICE building and at a van in the sally port where detainees were located. The attack targeted ICE law enforcement, with shell casings found bearing anti-ICE messages, signaling a politically motivated assault.
“This was an attack on ICE law enforcement,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated. She condemned the violence, emphasizing that the officers and detainees involved are individuals who deserve safety and respect. Secretary Noem warned that inflammatory rhetoric against ICE officials has consequences and urged for a tone of civility and caution in discussions about immigration enforcement.
While no ICE officers or law enforcement personnel were physically harmed during the incident, the three detainees affected included a Mexican national, who, along with another injured detainee, remains in critical condition at local hospitals.
The incident triggered a significant law enforcement response, with multiple agencies arriving at the scene along the busy North Stemmons Freeway in Dallas. Authorities initially responded to what was reported as an “officer assist call” before uncovering the sniper attack.
Vice President JD Vance later described the shooter as a “left-wing extremist” with political motivations aimed at those enforcing border security, although official investigations into the full motive and background of the shooter remain ongoing.
DHS Secretary Noem expressed sympathies to the victims’ families and ICE personnel, noting, “The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, we just want to go home to our families at night.”
The Dallas shooting marks another episode of escalating violence against immigration enforcement personnel, prompting renewed calls for restraint in public discourse and increased security measures around ICE facilities nationwide.
The investigation remains active, with local and federal authorities working to gather more details about the attacker’s motives and any potential accomplices.
This tragedy has sparked a complex national conversation about immigration enforcement, political rhetoric, and the safety of both detainees and officers at ICE facilities.