2016 shooting of Dallas police officers

2015 attack Approximately one year before the shooting, a different attack was perpetrated against the Dallas Police Department (DPD) which The New York Times likened to the 2016 shooting, comparing their outcomes and the armament of the perpetrators. Several officers were involved in both incidents. On 13 June 2015 at approximately 12:30 a.m., 35-year-old James Lance Boulware (October 26, 1979 – June 13, 2015) parked an armored van in front of DPD headquarters, which is located in the Cedars neighborhood. When police officers responded, Boulware rammed a Dallas Police patrol car and began shooting at officers from inside the van, striking the squad cars. He then fled in the van to nearby Hutchins, Texas ( south of Dallas), where he stopped in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box franchise. He remained in the van as a standoff with police ensued. Further gunfire was exchanged with the police while a perimeter was set up around the van, and a SWAT team was called in. The driver identified himself to police as James Boulware, and claimed that the police had taken his son, accusing him of "being a terrorist". He then cut off communication with officers after making increasingly agitated and angry rants against police. The driver then threatened to blow the police up. The standoff continued as SWAT officers used a .50-caliber rifle to disable the engine block of the armored van. The standoff ended when a sniper fired additional rounds into the vehicle, killing the driver. Police subsequently sent in robots that used water charges in an attempt to make entry into the vehicle, which succeeded in breaching the windshield. Police were then able to verify that the suspect was the only person in the vehicle, and that he was dead. Police robots also used water charges to disable two sets of pipe bombs found in the van. Due to concerns that the van, which was identified as a purpose-built "Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle and Troop Transport" with gun ports and armor-plated windows, was booby-trapped with explosives, police then destroyed the van in a controlled explosion. Four suspicious bags were found at the police headquarters, one of which contained pipe bombs. News reports confirmed that Boulware was arrested in Paris, Texas, in 2013 after a report of family violence, and several firearms he owned were also confiscated. Boulware's family members then reported to authorities that they were concerned that he might go on a shooting spree after he threatened to kill all the adult members of his family and to shoot up some churches and schools. Boulware later made threats against a judge in his child custody case after he and the mother of his eleven-year-old son lost custody of their son to Boulware's mother, on the grounds that they were unfit for sole custody of the child. July 2016 Protests On July 7, 2016, a protest organized by the took place in Dallas in response to the killings of two men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, days before. The Dallas protest was one of several held across the United States on the night of July 7. Around 800 protesters were involved, and around 100 police officers were assigned to monitor the event. About 20 to 30 open-carry gun rights activists joined the protest march, some wearing gas masks, bulletproof vests, and fatigues, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown. ==Shootings==

, killing him and shattering the store-front glass. Officers began entering the college, sealing escape routes from the building, and evacuating students and teachers in the building, including those on a floor above Johnson, through a different stairwell. At least 200 gunshots were believed to have been fired by Johnson and SWAT officers in that area during the standoff. The body camera footage shows Senior Corporal Matt Banes expressing concern that the bullets Johnson fired on the second floor were easily penetrating the drywall, making it impossible for the negotiators to find safe cover, and posing a risk to any students who might have remained in the building. Johnson repeatedly taunted police by goading them into the hallway and claiming to have planted bombs throughout the city. Later searches of downtown Dallas found no evidence of explosives. and that they could not "wait him out" any longer because he might charge officers in the narrow hallway at any moment, as he had done several times earlier. So, the team began considering several tactical plans to end the standoff. The device exploded as intended at approximately 2:30 a.m., killing Johnson immediately. It was the first time that explosives strapped to a robot had been used in American domestic law enforcement. In the aftermath, police investigated Johnson's body and equipment. He was found lying next to a rifle, two handguns, additional rifle magazines, and a bag filled with supplies. Police investigated the markings made by Johnson, but did not conclusively determine if they had any special meaning. Asked about the remarks Johnson made during the negotiation, Sr. Corporal Gordon later reflected, "I think he was angry...and he felt powerless, I think. And that's why I think he took the rifle and took it upon himself to attack us. Because he felt powerless, and he wanted to die to show...because he says he's doing this for his people...And I think the hook that I had with him was that I was an African-American male." ==Victims==

Five officers were killed; nine other officers and two civilians were injured. Most of the victims were shot during the protests, and at least one other during a shootout. The dead comprised four DPD officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officer. Seven of the injured officers were treated at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Two officers underwent surgery. One civilian was shot in the back of the leg, breaking her tibia. The officers killed were identified as: • DPD Senior Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, 48, who had been with the department since 2002 and formerly served with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department from 1991 to 2002. • DPD Officer Michael Krol, 40, who had been with the department since 2003. • DPD Sgt. Michael Smith, 55, a former Army Ranger who had been with the department since 1989. • DART Officer Brent Thompson, 43, a former enlisted Marine who had been with the department since 2007. Thompson was the first DART officer to be killed in the line of duty since the department's inception in 1989. • DPD Officer Patricio "Patrick" Zamarripa, 32, a former Navy sailor This was the deadliest single incident for law enforcement officers in the United States since the September 11 attacks, ==Perpetrator==

Early life and education Micah Xavier Johnson was born in Magee, Mississippi, on July 2, 1991, and he was raised in Mesquite, Texas. He once described his childhood as "stressful" during a VA visit on August 15, 2014, but further details were redacted on the visit report. When he was four, his parents divorced. He struggled academically, graduating in 2009 with a 1.98 grade-point average and a ranking of 430 out of 453 students in his class. In the spring of 2011, he enrolled in four classes at Richland College, but never completed any of them. Investigators believed that Johnson had access to El Centro College through his enrollment at Richland, citing his pre-planned and coordinated movements throughout Building B. Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve and served from March 2009 to April 2015 as a 12W carpentry and masonry specialist. He completed basic training, which required qualification on handling of an M16 rifle or M4 carbine, basic rifles for U.S. military personnel. According to Justin Garner, a high-school friend and classmate who later served alongside Johnson in the same unit, Johnson lacked proficiency in certain required technical skills, such as marksmanship. with the 420th Engineer Brigade. People who knew Johnson during his time in the Army described him as openly religious and often socializing with white soldiers. Documents released by the Army on July 29 detailed early signs of disturbing behavior being exhibited by him, but specific details were redacted. They also said that while Johnson was sociable, he was generally described by soldiers as a loner who sometimes ate his lunch in a vehicle alone while the rest of his unit ate outside together. Discharge On May 1, 2014, during his deployment, Johnson was accused of sexual harassment by a female soldier, who sought a protective order against him and said that he needed mental health counseling. The accusation was made after the soldier reported four pairs of women's underwear missing from her laundry bag. A "health and welfare inspection" of soldiers' rooms found one pair in Johnson's quarters, while a soldier discovered the remaining three in Johnson's pocket. Upon being confronted about it, Johnson fled with the undergarments and attempted to dispose of them in a nearby dumpster. He then lied that a female civilian acquaintance gave the underwear to him, but the female soldier confirmed that they were in fact hers. According to the soldier, Johnson asked her for a pair of her underwear before the May 1 incident, but she declined. Also, during a Facebook conversation with her, Johnson mentioned "tying her down and having her face down on the bed" but then claimed the statement was a joke. Though she told him that rape was "never a joke" and to stop contacting her, the soldier did not report him for harassment at the time because she was used to that kind of rhetoric. Though the May 1 incident did not meet the Army's criteria for sexual harassment, investigators found that Johnson's sexually suggestive comments to the female soldier met said criteria. Later, the Army sent Johnson back to the U.S., and according to the military lawyer who represented Johnson at the time, the Army initiated proceedings to give Johnson an "other than honorable" discharge. The lawyer claimed this was "highly unusual" because written reprimands are usually issued before more drastic steps are taken, and also because the decision was allegedly based on a single sexual harassment allegation. The lawyer was evidently unaware of the grenade and other contraband discovered in Johnson's possession shortly before he was repatriated to the United States from Afghanistan as well as other factors in Johnson's possibly redacted record. Motive Chief Brown said that Johnson, who was black, was furious about recent police shootings of black men and "stated he wanted to kill white people, especially officers". A friend and former coworker of Johnson's described him as "always [being] distrustful of the police." Brown said that Johnson had told police negotiators that he was angry about Black Lives Matter. Police said they had found no direct ties between Johnson and Black Lives Matter protesters, and believed the suspect had been planning an attack for some time and acted on his own. On Facebook, Johnson posted an angry and "disjointed" post against white people on July 2, several days before the attack. NBPP head Quanell X said after the shooting that Johnson had been a member of the NBPP's Houston chapter for about six months, several years before. Quanell X added that Johnson had been "asked to leave" the group for violating the organization's "chain of command" and espousing dangerous rhetoric, such as asking the NBPP why they had not purchased more weapons and ammunition, and expressing his desire to harm black church preachers because he believed they were more interested in money than God. Following the shooting, a national NBPP leader distanced the group from Johnson, saying that he "was not a member of" the party. According to a soldier, Johnson had a small breakdown after he began losing his friends in the Army after details of the sexual harassment accusation were released. Johnson had offered to work security at an anti-Donald Trump rally led by Dallas civil rights activist Reverend Peter Johnson on June 16, but he insisted on bringing a gun, so the reverend declined. According to police and a neighbor, Johnson practiced military exercises in his backyard. In 2014, Johnson received training and instruction at a private self-defense school that teaches tactics such as "shooting on the move" (i.e., quickly firing, then changing position and resuming gunfire). The tactic was designed to keep a gunman's location uncertain and create the impression of multiple shooters. Although the school's website does mention such training as being offered, Justin Everman, the founder of the school, stated that Johnson only took self-defense courses two years ago. Investigators believed that he began amassing his arsenal around the same time, stockpiling guns and gathering chemicals and electronic devices and PVC piping needed to build explosives. ==Investigation==

Weapons There were conflicting reports on the type of semi-automatic rifle that Johnson used during the shooting. Clay Jenkins, the Dallas County chief executive and the director of homeland security and emergency management, said Johnson used an SKS. The New York Daily News interviewed a man who sold Johnson a semiautomatic AK-74 pattern rifle in November 2014. The man said he sold Johnson the rifle and made the deal in a Target parking lot. When the man asked the ATF if his weapon played a part in the shooting, the ATF agent who responded said, "All we can say is it was recovered. We're just finding out everything we can." In addition to the rifle, Johnson carried at least one handgun with a high-capacity magazine during the attack. Bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, two rifles, ammunition, and a "personal journal of combat tactics" containing "instruction on shooting techniques and tactical movements" were recovered from the home by detectives. Chief Brown reported that the journal included "quite a bit of rambling ... that's hard to decipher." However, the latter claim was contradicted on July 18 by two officials familiar with the investigation, who both said small amounts of Tannerite, a binary explosive used to make explosive targets for gun ranges, and acetone, an accelerant in explosives, were recovered from the home. Investigators interviewed 300 witnesses and officers after the shooting. Investigators examined Johnson's laptop, journal, and cell phone, along with 170 hours of body camera footage. The DPD planned to release surveillance footage of the shooting on August 29, but held off, saying the release would interfere with its investigation. Related arrests Officials initially said two or more snipers carried out the shooting, with the confusion later attributed to ricocheting bullets and the echoes of gunshots. They later said that Johnson appears to have been the lone gunman, with all of the gunshots traced back to him. Three other people were taken into custody by police, "but officials have not said what roles they may have played". These three included two people seen carrying camouflage bags and leaving the shooting scene on Lamar Street. They were both stopped and detained after a six-mile chase. The detained persons were all later determined to be fleeing protesters who were either armed or carrying ammunition gear. Investigators obtained a search warrant to look for phone numbers connected to Johnson. Shortly after the shooting, the DPD tweeted a photo of the man describing him as one of their suspects and asked the public's help in finding him. The police-released image of the suspect was widely shared on social media and broadcast on national television. The suspect turned himself in and was subsequently released after questioning without charge. Criticism by Dallas Police Association The then-president of the Dallas Police Association, Mike Mata, stated that due to the criticism of militarization of police, someone within the DPD's chain of command ordered the officers assigned to the protest to not wear military-style bulletproof vests because they did not want the officers to look too "militaristic, aggressive" and instead to wear standard issue kevlar vests, which were not able to protect against the rifle rounds Johnson fired. For the same reasons, officers were not able to arm themselves with long guns, such as AR-15s. Mata was interviewed by the local news station KDFW and said, "[A] lot of those shots, and a lot of those wounds... were chest shots, lower abdomen wound shots, and those heavy vests would have covered them". Army internal review On July 13, Pentagon officials announced that the U.S. Army had launched an internal review into Johnson's military service. The review was initiated after questions were raised about the appropriateness of his honorable discharge despite the sexual harassment allegations made against him, and the fact that the Army had been highly considering an "other than honorable discharge" for Johnson. On July 29, the Army released a heavily redacted report, which detailed the incident behind Johnson's discharge but did not address why he was discharged honorably. ==Aftermath==

, former President George W Bush, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at a memorial service for one of the officers killed in the shooting DART suspended service in downtown Dallas after the shooting, but resumed the next morning with the exception of West End station. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction of civilian aircraft for the immediate vicinity in which the shooting occurred, allowing only police aircraft in the airspace. El Centro College canceled all classes on July 8. A "Reflect and Renew" ceremony dedicated to demonstrating citywide efforts to unify Dallas was held at the college on July 27. Students and staff, along with city and community officials, were in attendance. Chief Brown said that police efforts to identify the gunman were made more difficult by the presence of up to thirty civilians openly carrying rifles during the protest, which is legal in Texas. Brown said, "We're trying as best we can as a law enforcement community to make it work so that citizens can express their Second Amendment rights. But it's increasingly challenging when people have AR-15s slung over their shoulder and they're in a crowd. We don't know who the good guy is versus the bad guy when everyone starts shooting." In an interview after the shooting, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said that he supported changing state law to restrict the public carrying of rifles and shotguns so that the police could distinguish between suspects and civilians more easily during crises. Dallas Observer noted several similarities between Johnson and Mark Essex, a discharged U.S. Navy sailor and Black Panther who committed two attacks against White civilians and police officers on December 31, 1972, and January 7, 1973, in New Orleans. The attacks left nine people dead, including five police officers. Information regarding the shootout and standoff, such as ballistics reports, autopsies for the victims and gunman, and full transcripts of the negotiation audio, remain sealed. Lawsuits In November 2016, Enrique Zamarripa, the father of Officer Patrick Zamarripa, one of the murdered police officers, filed a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter and 13 other defendants, including the Nation of Islam, the New Black Panther Party, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and individual activists. The lawsuit seeks $550 million in damages and claims that Johnson was acting as an agent for the defendants and alleged that the defendants incited violence and caused the Dallas shooting as a "direct result". The mother of the officer, Valerie Zamarripa, distanced herself from her ex-husband's lawsuit, saying that it did not reflect her views, or the views of the foundation set up in her son's name. Klayman has used his nonprofit group Freedom Watch to pursue lawsuits that "further supposed 'far-right' causes" in the past. The lawsuit was seen as "unlikely to be taken too seriously by a judge" Attorneys for Mckesson have argued that "Klayman should have known his claims were frivolous." Effects on policing As a result of the shooting, local law enforcement officers worked more than $800,000 in overtime to help the DPD. This included $86,000 spent by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office, $88,000 spent by the Arlington Police Department, about $705,250 by DPD, and unknown sums by the Irving Police Department and the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department. Following this shooting and another in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that killed three police officers and wounded three others, local law enforcement agencies across the U.S. began re-adjusting response strategies, with more officers being paired up in patrol vehicles. Departments also began to increase security and surveillance at protest events against police. Within twelve days of the shooting, DPD received 467 job applications, representing a 344% increase from the 136 applications received by the department in June. In the months before the shooting, DPD, along with other police departments across the country, had been struggling to recruit new officers. DPD had to cancel academy classes because there were not enough applicants, and also struggled in retaining officers due to a low salary. On August 25, DPD announced their goal of hiring 549 officers by October 2017, though some police and City Council officials called the effort unrealistic due to the department's strict hiring requirements. Use of a police robot to kill Johnson The killing of Johnson was the first time in United States history a robot was used by police to kill a suspect. The Remotec ANDROS Mark V-A1, a bomb disposal remote control vehicle used by police, was rigged with about of C-4 explosive. There were various reactions to the lethal use of a robot by police. P. W. Singer, a robotics expert at the New America Foundation, said it was the first instance of which he was aware of a robot being used lethally by police. Seth Stoughton, an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, said, "This is sort of a new horizon for police technology. Robots have been around for a while, but using them to deliver lethal force raises some new issues." To this effect, Stoughton said, "I'm not aware of any police department having on hand something that is intended to be used as a weaponized explosive." He believed that the manner in which the police used the robot was justified due to Johnson being an imminent threat to police personnel and civilians, stating, "The circumstances that justify lethal force justify lethal force in essentially every form." ==Reactions==

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety to offer any assistance to Dallas when requested. He also said, "In times like this we must remember—and emphasize—the importance of uniting as Americans." Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick attributed the violence to individuals on social media, "former Black Lives Matter protesters", and others with anti-police views, later expressing regret for his statement. President Barack Obama called the shooting a "vicious, calculated, despicable attack" and a "tremendous tragedy". He also made immediate calls for gun control. The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., called for the shooting to be investigated as a hate crime and criticized President Obama's response, saying that he needed to speak for everyone and not give one speech for police officers and another one for African Americans. On July 8, the day after the shooting, a special interfaith vigil attracted hundreds of people to Thanks-Giving Square in Downtown Dallas, where Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and regional faith leaders led prayers for the officers involved in the shooting and for everyone affected by it. An interfaith memorial to the dead officers was held at Dallas's Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on July 12. U.S. President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, a Texan who previously served as the 46th Governor of Texas, spoke at the ceremony, which was also attended by then-Vice President Joe Biden. Obama praised the Dallas police as heroes and called the killings "an act not just of demented violence but of racial hatred." Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that agents from the ATF, FBI, Marshals Service, and other U.S. Department of Justice agencies were on the scene working with state and local agencies. Lynch stated that the proper response to uncertainty and fear "is never violence" but rather is "calm, peaceful, collaborative and determined action". Lynch also said, "To all Americans, I ask you, I implore you, do not let this week precipitate a new normal in this country." Chapman subsequently told CNN that she regretted referring to Johnson as a martyr, stating: "While I detest the killing of those officers and the taking of innocent lives, I did, in a way, I understood what could drive the shooter to do something like that. I don't consider him a hero." Chapman's employer, WPBT, announced that she had been placed on administrative leave following her comments. After the shootings at Dallas, Louisiana, and Minnesota, the Bahamian government issued a travel advisory telling citizens to use caution when traveling to the U.S. due to racial tensions. They specifically advised that young men use "extreme caution" when interacting with police and to be non-confrontational and cooperative. ==See also==