Correction, : The Department of Homeland Security previously provided inaccurate information about the number of detainees killed and injured. It later corrected those figures and said one was killed and two were injured.
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The gunman who fatally shot an immigrant and injured two others at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas left behind notes that outlined a plan to target ICE officers, federal law enforcement officials said on Thursday.
Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said that the gunman, who authorities identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn of Fairview, wrote that he hated the federal government and wanted to terrorize ICE agents, who he described as "human traffickers."
The gunman's notes showed that he wanted ICE agents to feel "real terror of being gunned down," Larson said, calling his actions the "very definition of terrorism."
Larson also said the gunman said he acted alone, and described ICE employees as "people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck." She said that investigators did not find any evidence that he was affiliated with any political group.
"It's clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel," Larson said. "The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the sally port."
R. Joseph Rothrock, the FBI special agent in charge of the Dallas office, said the gunman had legally purchased an 8mm bolt-action rifle last year and had been planning his attack for several months.
Marcos Charles, an ICE official, said at the news conference that the victims were restrained in a van and couldn't get out when the shooting started.
The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The wounded detainees were in critical condition Wednesday. One of the detainees who was injured is a Mexican national, according to a press release from Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Originally, DHS had said two detainees were killed and one was in critical condition.
Federal officials did not provide additional details about the victims on Thursday.
FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday shared a photo on social media depicting “five unspent shell casings” on the ground, with “ANTI ICE” written on one of them.
Patel, who has been criticized for releasing incorrect information about the assassination of conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk, said that even though the Dallas shooting is still under investigation, the “initial review of the evidence shows an idealogical motive behind this attack.”
Law enforcement officials at the news conferences on Wednesday and Thursday urged the public to tone down the political rhetoric toward immigration officers.
President Donald Trump echoed that sentiment, yet simultaneously assigned blame to a political group even though officials had yet to confirm the motive behind the attack.
“This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to 'Nazis,'” Trump wrote on his social media network.
Other GOP officials called for a general stop to the recent spate of political violence, without ascribing blame to any one side of the aisle.
“This needs to stop. Violence is wrong. Politically motivated violence is wrong,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said at the news conference. “We should not be putting language out there that inspires madmen.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the incident “horrific,” and said his office is making sure that “all resources are brought to bear in the investigation.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the shooting was “an attack on ICE law enforcement.”
The Trump administration has made immigration a top priority, moving non-immigration federal law enforcement officers to help ICE arrest, detain and deport thousands of undocumented immigrants, including some with legal permission to be in the country. In some cases, ICE has also detained U.S. citizens.
The administration has routinely touted the arrests of men who have been convicted of sexual assaults and other violent crimes and said law enforcement is targeting the “worst of the worst.” But government data shows that a majority of those targeted by ICE have no criminal record.
Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X that the shooting “will NOT slow our arrest, detention, & deportation of illegal immigrants. We will work with ICE & the Dallas Police Dept. to get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive. We will offer ICE additional support to assist their operations.”
The shooting is at least the third at a Texas ICE facility in recent months.
A July 4 attack at another Texas immigration detention center injured a police officer, who was shot in the neck. Attackers dressed in black military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
A man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents as they were leaving a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen on July 7. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a police officer who responded to the scene before authorities shot and killed him. Police later found other weaponry, ammunition and backpacks inside his car.
Vice President JD Vance said on X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
House Speaker Dustin Burrows echoed that sentiment.
“All acts of violence and intimidation simply cannot be tolerated within our society, whether it be against law enforcement personnel, political figures, or innocent individuals,” he wrote on X. “I am grateful to the law enforcement officers who quickly responded to the shooting in Dallas this morning and continue to work to ensure the safety of everyone at the ICE field office.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also weighed in on X, saying: “We will continue to do everything in our power to combat the alarming increase of targeted attacks against ICE and all law enforcement by evil, twisted individuals.”
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said the "tragic killing" of one of the immigrants is "heartbreaking."
“All of us need to reject extremism in our politics and come together to prevent tragedies like this," Castro said in a statement.
