One person was killed and two others critically injured in Wednesday’s fatal shooting at a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas, the latest in a string of violent incidents targeting ICE and Customs and Border Protection facilities in Texas this year.
Authorities identified the suspected gunman as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
While officials have not disclosed a motive, FBI investigators said ammunition recovered near Jahn carried messages “anti-ICE in nature,” and described the incident as an act of “targeted violence.” None of the victims were law enforcement officers, according to the FBI.
The attack comes after three earlier incidents this year at Texas immigration facilities, including an August bomb threat at the very same Dallas office, a coordinated July 4 assault on a detention center near Fort Worth, and a July 7 shootout at a CBP facility in McAllen.
In the August scare, authorities arrested a man who arrived at the Dallas ICE office claiming to have a bomb detonator strapped to his wrist, prompting a shelter-in-place order before police cleared the scene. He was later charged with making terroristic threats.
On Independence Day, roughly a dozen people launched a late-night attack on the Prairieland Detention Facility near Fort Worth, firing fireworks, vandalizing cars with anti-ICE graffiti, and ultimately shooting a responding police officer in the neck.
The officer survived, and more than a dozen suspects now face charges. Flyers found during the investigation urged others to “FIGHT ICE WITH CLASS TERROR.”
Just days later in McAllen, a 27-year-old man in tactical gear opened fire on a Border Patrol annex before being killed by police. Two officers and a Border Patrol employee were wounded in the exchange.
Homeland Security officials have described the wave of incidents as part of an alarming surge in hostility toward immigration enforcement personnel.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said Wednesday that assaults on officers have spiked more than 1,000% compared to last year.
