Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons called the shooting Wednesday morning at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, which killed one detainee and critically wounded two, his "worst nightmare."
For Lyons, who previously worked in a Dallas ICE office, the shooting "really hit home."
"Seeing the photos today, some of the bullets were in an office that I used to have there," he said on "Top Story with Tom Llamas." "It’s just a horrible feeling. People always ask me what’s the thing that keeps me up at night. It’s the safety of the men and women of ICE."
Three detainees were shot when gunfire rang out around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday. One victim died at the scene, and the two others were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds, Dallas police said. No ICE officers were hurt.
"My heart goes out that detainee’s family. We’re charged with their protection, their custody. Nothing like that should happen," Lyons said.
The shooter, who multiple senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation identified as Joshua Jahn, had fired from a nearby roof or an elevated position down into the field office’s sally port, ICE said.
The shooter was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ICE said. A bullet found near the shooter bore messages that were "anti-ICE" in nature, the Dallas office of the FBI said, calling the attack an act of "targeted violence."
Lyons said he learned the shooter fired bullets "indiscriminately," striking windows and lobby doors, and that the shooter fired upon the sally port, where detainees are brought in. The victims were shot while they were in vehicles, he said.
"The detainees weren’t outside a vehicle. The shooter was just shooting at random vehicles inside. They were still hit inside the vehicle," Lyons said. "There were some brave men and women on the ground that went into those vans, were pulling those detainees out while they’re under fire."
He said the shooting was particularly alarming because it happened in the morning commute hours, near an interstate, apartments and businesses, meaning more people could have been hurt.
"This was a targeted attack on ICE, but this really could've hurt anyone," Lyons said.
Lyons said there has been an increase in attacks "on ICE officers and agents nationwide."
"It’s bad enough the men and women of ICE have to go out there and put themselves in harm's way, doing their law enforcement mission, but never thinking that in our own facility, our own location, we take sniper fire in a major city," he said.
His message to ICE agents is: "I totally have their back."
"My No. 1 mission is making sure they go home to their families every night," he said.
