On Thursday night, snipers opened fire against police officers in Dallas, Texas. Details are still being uncovered, and there has been much confusion about the event.
Here are six things we do know.
1. The body count.
Five police officers were killed, and twleve wounded, according to Britain’s The Telegraph.
2. Three suspects are in custody.
Police have taken three suspects into custody, The Hill reported.
One female suspect was found in the area of the El Centro garage and two suspects with camouflage bags were apprehended in a Mercedes fleeing the scene. Dallas Police Chief David Brown reported that those in custody were not being cooperative. “We still don’t have a complete comfort level that we have all the suspects,” he said.
3. A fourth suspect was killed by a “bomb robot.”
A fourth suspect, identified as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, was killed on Friday morning by a “bomb robot,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Johnson had no known criminal history or ties to terror groups.
#Breaking: Dallas gunman is ID’ed as Micah X. Johnson, 25. No known criminal history or ties to terror groups. https://t.co/svut88i3A7
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 8, 2016
According to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, Brown said officers cornered Johnson and tried to negotiate with him for several hours, but the talks broke down. The suspect told police he was upset by recent police shootings and “wanted to kill white people.” “I’m not going to be satisfied until we turn over every stone,” Brown said. “If there’s someone out there associated with this, we will find you.” Next Page: Where that search went horribly wrong. Was this a Black Lives Matter protest?
4. A “person of interest” turned himself in Thursday night.
Police handed out pictures of this man as a “person of interest” on Thursday night, but his brother said he is not a suspect, according to CBS News’ Brian New. The man turned himself in to the authorities, giving up his gun.
Brother of “person of interest” says his brother is not a suspect, handed his long rifle over to a police officer. pic.twitter.com/H2nUX7CKFN — Brian New (@BrianNewCBS) July 8, 2016
The man in the photo, Mark Hughes, was later released from custody and told KTVT-TV that he was wrongfully accused, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Immediately, I flagged down a police officer,” he recalled. He alleged that officers subjected him to a 30 minute interrogation and lied to him, saying they had witnesses and video indicated he had fired his gun.
“At the end of the day, it’s the system… the system was trying to get me,” Hughes said. “Now you all have my face on national news, are you going to come out and say that this young man had nothing to do with it? At the end of the day… it was persecution on me unrightly, and I feel that they need to do something about that.”
5. This was not a “Black Lives Matter” protest.
The protest was not organized by the group “Black Lives Matter” but by Next Generation Action Network, which describes itself as “a multi-cultural non for profit organization founded in August of 2014.” Its mission is “to lobby for social change and equality for all regardless of race, religion, nationality, gender or age.”
Pastors led the event, and one of them, the Reverend Jeff Hood, told the Dallas Morning News that he was standing with police officers when the shooting started. “The officer ran towards the shots, I ran away from the shots trying to get people off the streets, and I was grabbing myself to see if I was shot,” Hood said.
6. The protest was one of many.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that across the country, protesters gathered to speak out against the police shootings of two black mean earlier this week: 37-year-old Alton Sterling, who was killed outside a convenience stor in Baton Rouge, Louis.; and Philando Castile, who was shot during a traffic stop in Minnesota.
The AP added that protesters shut down traffic in New York City during rush hour, chanting, “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!”
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