Investigators believe the man who opened fire during a protest against police violence in downtown Dallas had planned to carry out a larger attack.
Micah Johnson, 25, shot at police officers from rooftops killing five and injuring seven during the Thursday night protest. Two civilians were also injured.
Upon searching Johnson’s home, police found bomb-making materials, and deduced that he had moved up the attack to coincide with the protests – which were in response to the high profile police killings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.
“We think he was probably planning something bigger based on what we found at the house with the explosive materials,” a source close to the investigation told ABC affiliate WFAA. “He had a bunch of explosive materials. He didn’t have the explosives created.”
The source continued: “I think that target of opportunity is what drove him as far as timing. … He literally had hundreds and hundreds of rounds in magazines attached to his body so it wasn’t like he was running out of ammunition. He definitely was ready to go and intending to inflict more damage.
“His plan was to kill as many as he could.”
Police killed Johnson using explosives attached to a bomb squad robot after 45 minutes of negotiations had failed.
Law enforcement originally suspected two shooters were present at the attack, but Chief David Brown said that Johnson, who was an Army reservist, had studied “shoot and scoot” tactics, where he would change locations quickly after firing off a series of rounds.
