Snipers shoot 11 police officers in Dallas during protest rally, killing five, police say

[DFighter]

Update: At about 2 a.m. central time, Dallas Police announced that a fifth officer has died. At this point, four Dallas police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer have been killed. 

Police said there are at least four suspects after snipers shot at least 11 police officers, killing 5, in a downtown area of Dallas where protests had been taking place. One civilian was also injured.

Police said the shootings occurred during a protest rally, which drew a crowd of 800, over the recent police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota.

 

At a press conference at around 12:40 central time Friday, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said three of these suspects are in custody. The fourth has been in a stand-off with police on the second floor of the El Centro parking garage for 45 minutes. That suspect has fired at police.

Brown said there may be more persons involved in the attack. He believes the four suspects worked together with rifles, “triangulated at elevated positions at difference places in the downtown area” to attack police officers.

The suspect in the El Centro garage said “there are bombs all over this place, in the garage and downtown,” according to Brown. FBI and ATV are on scene, canvassing for explosives. A suspicious package was found, and is being examined by the Dallas Police bomb squad.

“We are being very careful with our tactics, so we don’t injure or put any of our citizen’s in harm’s way,” he said.

Two of the suspects in custody were seen climbing into a black Mercedes with a camouflaged bag before speeding off. They were apprehended in the Oak Cliff area, a suburb of Dallas.

 

The third suspect in custody was near the El Centro garage.

Brown also praised his officers during the press conference.

“I’ve never been more proud … seeing the courage, the professionalism and just the grit to stay on scene in an area looking for suspects, knowing we are vulnerable,” Brown said of his officers.

Dallas Mayor Mark Rawlings said downtown Dallas remains an active crime scene.

No more press conferences are expected tonight, though police will continue to update media through social media.

The Dallas Morning News reported the shots were fired at near the intersection of Market and Main streets, which is near the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza.

These shots came at around 9 p.m., local time just as a rally where hundreds gathered to protest the recent fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota was ending, KXAS reported. The protesters were marching from the Belo Garden Park to the Old Red Courthouse. Video showed scenes of people fleeing through the streets as they heard shots.

 

It is unknown at this time if there is a connection between the shots and the protest.

for more comments and video's of the shooting visit the source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/07/07/two-police-officers-reported-shot-in-downtown-dallas-near-scene-of-earlier-protests/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_mm-dallas-1120pm-duplicate%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[Raskin]

Sad state we are in now..i understand the reason for speaking out against shootings of people by police when the situation could have been handled differently..training is needed..also another point..do what the police tell you to do..to not cooperate when they give you a command like handsup..hands behind your back or get down need to be followed..when you struggle with them you will lose...these protests make a point but seldom go well ..someone always starts violence.I don't like walking protests..they should be in one place,then the outer area can be more secured.. how do police secure a moving event as this anyway

[DFighter]

this is one of the latest video's I found but I do want to note with this one, that there are some shocking moments on it. For those who prefer not to see such terrible footage you better dont watch this video

[Sonofdoc]

Saw this on the news live last night. I thought those suspects were long gone, but I guess not. They dragged that one police man in the squad car to take him to the hospital, they had no time to wait for an ambulance. It is just very sad to know someone had to go up to a family's door and tell them the news that their husband has been killed. Hope there is no more shootings :/

[B3rk0]

And i hope that they capture and kill everyone of those f***ers!!!!

[DFighter]

well since im news reporting I shouldnt have a opinion but what shocked me perhaps the most were many comments on facebook people liking it and understanding why it happened 

[Raskin]

really hard for me to believe race relations have not improved much in last 50 years on both sides..I've been disliked because I'm white,I've been disliked because I'm white and am not a racist by my own race..I have been disliked by Latins in South Florida ..I have also been liked by all of them also..just a minority of racisits have spoiled relations...