Dallas police chief: 3 officers killed, 7 injured at protest

DALLAS — Four Dallas police officers were killed and seven others were wounded by snipers Thursday night during a demonstration protesting shootings by officers in Minnesota and Louisiana this week, according to Chief David O. Brown of the Dallas police.

One suspect was arrested late Thursday after a shootout with the police, Brown said. A suspicious package was found near the suspect and was being secured by a police bomb squad.

A second man, whose photo the Police Department had released as a “person of interest,” had turned himself in, and other “persons of interest” were being questioned.

Brown said the shooting was carried out by two snipers who fired down on a demonstration in the city’s downtown that until then had been peaceful.

They “planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could,” Brown said.

“Some were shot in the back,” the chief said. “We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers.”

A civilian in the crowd of almost 1,000 people was also wounded.

The police were combing downtown for what they believe was a bomb planted by the snipers as the heart of the country’s ninth-largest city was put on lockdown.

The chief said he had contacted the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for help in the investigation.

The shooting unfolded near one of the busiest parts of downtown, filled with hotels and restaurants as well as Dallas County government buildings. Videos of the scene circulated widely on social media. In many of them, multiple gunshots could be heard ringing out in a city illuminated by police lights. Teams of armed officers could be seen running through the area.