Micah Xavier Johnson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
An Army veteran “upset about Black Lives Matter” and “recent police shootings” who opened fire Thursday night in Dallas in an attack on police officers has been identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, the Los Angeles Times and CBS News report.
Five police officers were killed and seven were wounded, officials said. Two civilians were also wounded in the shootings. Johnson, 25, was killed when a police robot detonated a bomb near him following a standoff that lasted several hours, Police Chief David Brown said Friday at a press conference.
“The suspect said he was upset with white people and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Brown said.
It is not clear if there were any other gunmen, or whether other people taken into custody by police were involved in the shooting. Police initially said two snipers positioned themselves in triangulated locations to fire on officers from elevated positions.
The gunfire began just before 9 p.m. while a peaceful rally was held by Black Lives Matter in response to recent controversial police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
The gunman was then cornered in El Centro College in downtown Dallas.
This post will be updated as more information is released. Here’s what we know so far about Johnson and the shootings:
Warning: Some of the videos below may contain graphic content.
1. The Former Soldier Told Police He Was Not Affiliated With Any Groups & He ‘Did This Alone’
After the shootings in downtown Dallas, the gunman, identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, holed himself up inside El Centro College in the downtown area of the city, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a press conference.
He told police he was “not affiliated with any groups,” and he said he “did this alone,” the chief said.
Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Johnson has no ties to terror groups and no known criminal history. He has lived in the Dallas area and has family members living in Mesquite, Texas, east of Dallas, the newspaper reports, citing federal law enforcement sources.
A black SUV was found at the scene registered to Delphene Johnson, who is Micah Johnson’s mother, according to Facebook posts and public records, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports. Live helicopter video from the news station showed police at her home in Mesquite.
Johnson served in the U.S. Army Reserve, investigators said. Details about his service were not immediately available.
Johnson told police negotiators the “end is coming” and said he wanted to “kill more” officers, according to Brown.
Police said after several hours of negotiating, with intermittent exchanges of gunfire, the suspect was killed by a bomb-wielding robot.
“We tried to negotiate for several hours, negotiations broke down, we had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect,” Brown said. “We saw no other option but to use our bomb-robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is dead a result of detonating the bomb.”
The suspect did not shoot himself, despite reports, Brown said.
“He wanted to kill officers, and he expressed killing white people, he expressed killing white officers,” Brown said. “He expressed anger for Black Lives Matter. None of that makes sense, none of that is a legitimate reason to do harm to anyone, so the rest of it would just be speculating on what his motivations were. We just know what he said to our negotiators.”
While he was barricaded in the hotel, the suspect told police there were bombs planted “all over” downtown Dallas, the city’s police chief said at a press conference.
Police have not said if any bombs or suspicious items have been found.
“He said we will eventually find the IEDs,” Brown said.
The shooting came a year and a month after a man angry at police opened fire on the Dallas Police headquarters. He fired several shots at the building, but no one was injured. The man,James Boulware, was driving an armored van and was later chased down by police. He was killed during a standoff.
Boulware also claimed he had planted bombs in downtown Dallas.
2. His Facebook Page Includes a ‘Black Power’ Poster & the Pan-African Flag
Micah Johnson’s Facebook page provides few details about his life. In May, he posted a “Black Power” poster, one of the few images on his page:
His cover photo is the Pan-African flag.
Johnson posted a photo with Professor Griff of Public Enemy, taken at what appears to be an autograph signing, in April. His only other photo is a Doctor Who wallpaper.
His birthday was July 2.
Johnson’s sister posted on Facebook on Friday after his name was made public, “I keep saying its not true…my eyes hurt from crying. Y him??? And why was he downtown smh.
“Please out of respect for my family. If you following the news and know whats going on, I’m not talking to anyone and please keep your comments thoughts respectful,” she wrote. “The news will say what they think but those that knew him know this wasn’t like him. Only close family can call me. This is the biggest loss we’ve had.”
3. The Chief Says If Anyone Else Was Involved in the Shootings, ‘We Will Find You & We Will Bring You to Justice’
Police are still trying to determine how many gunmen were involved in the attack. Chief David Brown said they will continuing searching and investigating until they can be sure no one is on the loose.
Brown said they want to ensure “that everyone associated with this tragedy is brought to justice. … We won’t expand on any further on what other suspects we have interviewed or looked at or their status until we get further into this investigation and get closer to a conclusion of who are all involved.”
Brown said, “I’m not going to be satisfied until we turn over every stone. … We’re not satisfied that we’ve exhausted every lead. And we’re not going to be satisfied until every lead is exhausted. So if there is someone out there that was associated with this, we will find you and we will prosecute you and we will bring you to justice.”
Police previously said two people were spotted getting into a Mercedes in downtown Dallas carrying camouflage duffle bags, the police chief said. The car was found by police and stopped on the highway. The people in the car were taken into custody. The chief said a woman was also arrested near El Centro College.
Police are not sure if any of those three people who are in custody are connected to the shooting.
One man who was marching during the protest, Mark Hughes, was incorrectly identified by police as a “person of interest” in the shooting, and his photo was distributed on Twitter by the department. Hughes was open carrying a rifle, which is legal in Texas, to exercise his Second Amendment rights, but he turned over the gun to a police officer after the shooting began so he would not be mistaken as a suspect.
The man later turned himself in to police after his photo was distributed across social media and on national television. He was released after being questioned.
4. The Slain Officers Include 4 From the Dallas PD & 1 From the City’s Transit Police
Four of the officers killed are from the Dallas Police Department. The fifth victim, Officer Brent Thompson, worked for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) authority’s police department.
A second victim was identified by family members as Dallas Officer Patrick Zamarripa.
The other officers have not yet been identified publicly and Dallas Police Chief David Brown said they are working to notify families of the victims.
One wounded officer has been identified as DART Officer Misty McBride. She is expected to survive.
“Some of the bravest men and women you ever want to be associated with,” Brown said about the Dallas and DART police officers who responded to the shooting. “You see video footage after video footage of them running toward gunfire from an elevated position with no chance to protect themselves. And to put themselves in harms way to make sure citizens can get to a place of security.
“So please join me in applauding these brave men and women who do this job under great scrutiny, under great vulnerability. Who literally risk their lives to protect our democracy. We don’t feel much support most days, let’s not make today most days. Please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these who carried out this tragic, tragic event. Pray for these families,” Brown said.
5. Police Took Part in the Planning of the Peaceful Rally & March, the Chief Says
The shootings came during a peaceful rally and march in response to two controversial police shootings of black men that occurred this week. The rally began at 7 p.m. and was set to end at 9 p.m. The shooting occurred just before 9 p.m.
Alton Sterling was fatally shot by two officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Tuesday. A day later,Philando Castile was killed by police during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Parts of both shootings were caught on videos that spread quickly across social media. Investigations into both those shootings are ongoing and no officers have been charged.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said he and others in the police department participated in the planning of the rally.
Police have released no evidence that the planners of the protest were involved in the shooting.
