sniper kills one and injures two others held at immigration detention centre in dallas

An armed officer guards the scene of the sniper attack in Dallas (Picture: Reuters)

A sniper shot one person dead and injured two others who were being held by US immigration officers at a detention facility in Dallas.

The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Texas this morning and was later found dead from a ‘self-inflicted gunshot wound’ on a rooftop.

The shooter struck detainees,but an ICE spokesperson said it remains unclear whether they were targeting those detainees.

Authorities initially said that two people were dead and one was injured,but the Department of Homeland Security in the afternoon updated the death toll and stated that the two injured are in critical condition.

This traffic camera image shows heavy police presence off I-35E close to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office,in northwest Dallas (Picture: AP)

None of the victims were law enforcement officials.

Three sources identified the gunman to The New York Times as Joshua Jahn,29,but he had not been named or pictured by authorities as of the evening.

Authorities recovered rounds near the shooter with ‘messages that are anti-ICE in nature’,according to FBI Director Kash Patel,who shared an image of the ammunition on X.

‘These despicable,politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not a one-off,’ wrote Patel.

‘We are only miles from Prarieland,Texas where just two months ago an individual ambushed a separate ICE facility targeting their officers.

‘It has to end and the FBI and our partners will lead these investigative efforts to see to it that those who target our law enforcement are pursued and brought to the fullest extent of justice.’

One of victims is a Mexican national,according to the country’s foreign ministry.

The FBI is investigating the shooting ‘as an act of targeted violence’,said Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock.

An armed officer guards the scene of the sniper attack in Dallas (Picture: Reuters)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier posted on X: ‘Details are still emerging but we can confirm there were multiple injuries and fatalities.

‘The shooter is deceased by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

‘While we don’t know motive yet,we know that our ICE law enforcement is facing unprecedented violence against them.

‘It must stop. Please pray for the victims and their families.’

People who had appointments at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office are turned away after a reported shooting in the facility in Dallas (Picture: AP)

Dallas police said on social media that ‘the preliminary investigation determined that a suspect opened fire at a government building from an adjacent building’

‘Two people were transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds. One victim died at the scene. The suspect is deceased.’

The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department was dispatched at 6.41am after a call reporting a shooting at or near the immigration office,department spokesperson Jason Evans said in an email.

Evans said he didn’t have any confirmed details he could share,calling it an ‘active and ongoing incident’.

No law enforcement officials officials were killed in the shooting (Picture: Reuters)

President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the shooting and noted that the ‘deranged shooter’ wrote ‘Anti-ICE’ on his shell casings. He proceeded to blame the left.

‘This is despicable!’ he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

‘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.

‘This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement,calling for ICE to be demolished,and comparing ICE Officers to “Nazis.”’

Police blocked off the street close to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office after the shooting in Dallas (Picture: AP)

Trump mentioned the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month.

‘The continuing violence from Radical Left Terrorists,in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination,must be stopped,’ he wrote.

‘ICE Officers,and other Brave Members of Law Enforcement,are under grave threat.’

Despite early reports suggesting the victims were detainees,Vice President JD Vance called the shooting an ‘attack on law enforcement.’

US Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a press conference following a shooting at a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Dallas,Texas (Picture: Getty Images)

‘The obsessive attack on law enforcement,particularly ICE,must stop. I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families,’ he wrote in a post on X.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz posted to X that he and his staff are ‘closely monitoring the situation at the ICE Detention Facility in Dallas’.

‘We are praying for the swift recovery of those injured,and we are deeply grateful to the brave first responders who rushed to the scene,’ he added.

Governor Greg Abbott said that ‘Texas fully supports ICE’ and that his office will work with the agency and police ‘ to get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive’.

A vehicle with a sign posted on the side was searched by law enforcement agents near the scene of a shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas (Picture: AP)

‘Both the Texas Dept. of Public Safety & Texas National Guard work closely with ICE,’ he wrote on X.

‘This assassination will NOT slow our arrest,detention,& deportation of illegal immigrants.’

Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux promised that his agency will be ‘working this investigation shoulder to shoulder with our fellow partners’.

It was the second shooting at a federal immigration centre in the state in just a few months. A police officer was shot outside an ICE detention facility in Alvarado in July.