5 Dallas Officers Killed, 7 Injured in Ambush Shootings
Five Dallas law enforcement officers were killed and seven more injured late Thursday in an ambush by at least two gunmen, one of whom told police he was angry about recent fatal shootings of black men by police elsewhere in the United States and that he wanted to kill white people, especially police officers.
Two civilians were also injured in the shootings, which happened as people demonstrated in downtown Dallas after the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, black men killed by police in Louisiana and in Minnesota this week.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the gunman "expressed anger for Black Lives Matter" and told a hostage negotiator he "wanted to kill [police] officers,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown said.
Police spent hours negotiating with him before he was killed by an explosive strapped to a police robot.
"We're hurting," Brown said. "Our profession is hurting. Dallas officers are hurting. We are heartbroken. There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city."
The gunman has not yet been identified. Three other suspects -- two men and one woman -- have been detained by police, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.
"I can tell you they're being pretty tight-lipped at this point," he said of the trio.
President Obama called the Dallas shootings a "vicious, calculated, despicable attack" while speaking to reporters this morning in Warsaw, Poland. He described the killings as a "tremendous tragedy" and "senseless murders."
"We will learn more about their twisted motivations," Obama said of the suspects. "Let's be clear: There is no possible justification."
MANY gunshots heard in video I captured in #Dallas, just before 9p as rally marched through downtown @wfaachannel8
The chaos erupted just before 9 p.m. Thursday when at least two snipers in elevated positions opened fire on police officers amid the demonstrations, officials said. The family of 37-year-old Shetamia Taylor, a woman who was shot and injured, told ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA-TV that while at the demonstrations with her four sons, she jumped on top of her son as shots were fired.
Police said the gunmen fired from two different perches or garages.
Demonstrations across the country followed the deaths of Sterling and Castile as both shootings -- parts of which were captured on witness video -- sparked outrage. The Department of Justice is investigating Sterling's death and monitoring the investigating into Castile's.
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