Federal authorities say that a shooting on Wednesday morning at an ICE immigration detention center was a “targeted act of violence” and “an attack” against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated that a shooter fired “indiscriminately” at the ICE building and at a “van in the sally port where the victims” were hit. One detainee was killed and two others were injured. One of the hospitalized individuals was a Mexican citizen, according to the Mexican Foreign Ministry. Authorities say the suspect died from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound”.
The DHS reduced the number of deaths in an updated statement on Wednesday night. Previously, the agency had reported that two detainees died in the shooting.
The agency released two images showing a bullet hole in an outer window of the Dallas center and another in an inner panel with the American flag. The DHS described the shooting as “an attack on ICE law enforcement”.
In a press conference with politicians and officials, Joe Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI in Dallas, said that “initial evidence” suggests the alleged shooter was “anti-ICE by nature”, due to inscriptions found on bullet casings near the shooter.
On X, FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of five intact bullet casings, one of them engraved with the words “ANTI-ICE”. Patel’s post said: “These despicable and politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not isolated. We are just a few miles from Prarieland, Texas, where just two months ago an individual ambushed a separate ICE facility, targeting its agents.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the attack would not change the strict crackdown on immigration in his state. “We will not allow this cowardly attack to hinder our efforts to secure the border, enforce immigration laws, and ensure law and order”, Abbott said in a statement.
Rothrock said no law enforcement officers were injured during the attack. During the press conference, officials provided few details about the circumstances of the shooting. In an earlier statement, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said: “ICE police are facing unprecedented violence against them. This needs to stop.”
Mayra, a Nicaraguan migrant who has lived in the US for four years, was inside the ICE facility on Wednesday for her immigration check-in. She asked NPR not to disclose her last name due to her immigration status.
Around 6:20 a.m. local time, she said: “I started hearing shots and got very scared because my daughter was waiting for me outside.”
Mayra said she heard about 20 shots and that sometimes she could feel the bullets hitting the building. She said the officers inside were running and asking for help.
Her daughter, Denises Robleto, said she had to take cover outside. She thought of her mother. “I feel unsafe because we are all immigrants and, although I have legal status and have lived in Dallas, Texas, for 16 years, I’ve never seen anything like this”, Robleto said in Spanish.
Both women left Nicaragua because of violence in their country, they told reporters. “I feel like there’s danger everywhere, there’s no safety”, said Mayra, the mother. Her appointment was rescheduled for Thursday.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson asked for patience as the investigation continues. “Let’s stay calm and let our law enforcement partners, our police department, do their job”, he said. “This is an ongoing investigation. There are still many unanswered questions.”
Several officials, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, said that “politically motivated violence” needs to end. “Your opponents are not Nazis”, said Cruz. “Divisive rhetoric has real consequences.”
Source: npr.org by Russell Lewis, Sergio Martínez-Beltrán