Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings and police chief David Brown held a joint news conference on Friday morning, and said one of the shooters wanted to kill white people.
“The suspect said he was upset about Black lives Matter. He said he was upset about recent police shootings. The suspect was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people,” Brown said. “Especially white officers.”
“We’ve got a criminal investigation going on… our No. 1 job is to make sure the citizens of Dallas are safe,” Rawlings said. “So we’re not going to tell you anything about the suspects.”
Snipers in Dallas shot 12 police officers and two civilians during a rally Thursday night to protest police shootings, killing five of them. Brown said one suspect was cornered and gun fire was exchanged after negotiations fell apart.
“The suspect stated that we will eventually find the IEDs. The suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups,” Brown said. “He stated that he did this alone.”
“We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot… for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave dangers,” Brown said. “The suspect is deceased as a result of detonating the bomb. The reporting that the suspect killed himself is not accurate.”
The shootings occurred as hundreds of people were marching in downtown Dallas in response to the police killings this week of two unarmed African American men: Alton Sterling early Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile near St. Paul, Minnesota.
Brown ended the news conference by asking for support and prayers.
“Let us comfort the grieving officers’ families,” he said. “Please pray for our strength.”