When a Texas gunman fired on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, he was targeting federal employees he believed were collecting a "dirty paycheck" and involved in "human trafficking," officials said Thursday.
Federal officials said the gunman had been plotting his attack and knew how to locate the agents using ICE tracking apps.
Joshua Jahn, 29, made his intention for Wednesday’s attack clear in writings and through a trail left on his devices, federal officials said.
“Jahn specifically intended to kill ICE agents. ... He searched for information about the office building and how to track ICE agents’ locations,” said Joseph Rothrock, FBI special agent in charge.
“He knew, with a high likelihood, ICE detainees would be transported that morning in the exact location where he was facing from his perch on a nearby rooftop,” he said.
No ICE agents were injured in the attack that left one detainee dead and two others injured.
“He wrote that he intended to maximize lethality against ICE personnel and to maximize property damage at the facility," said Nancy Larson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
“He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking,” she said Thursday. “And this ... is the very definition of terrorism.”
Marcos Charles, field office director of enforcement and removal operations, said the gunman's use of ICE tracking apps highlights the danger they present to law enforcement.
The crowdsourcing platforms encourage users to share information about sightings of ICE agents.
"Anyone who creates or distributes these apps that [are] designed to spot, track and locate ICE officers are well aware of the dangers that they are exposing to law enforcement. ... It’s no different than giving a hit man the location of their intended target," Charles said.
Jahn allegedly went into this attack with the expectation of dying, and he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
“His handwritten notes indicate that he did not expect to survive this event,” Rothrock, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters.
In the handwritten notes, Jahn allegedly wrote, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?’” according to a statement by FBI Director Kash Patel.
Patel said the FBI also uncovered the following so far in its investigation:
- A document downloaded by Jahn containing a list of various Department of Homeland Security locations.
- Evidence of "multiple searches of ballistics and the 'Charlie Kirk Shot Video.'”
- In late August, Jahn allegedly "searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents."
Further evidence “indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” Patel said.
Three detainees in a van in the Dallas ICE facility’s sally port were shot.
A bullet found near the shooter had the words “anti-ICE” written on it, according to the FBI.
Vice President JD Vance has said evidence indicates the shooter was “politically motivated” to go after law enforcement and those enforcing the border.
He called the shooter a "violent left-wing extremist."
However, the region's top federal prosecutor said there's no proof that Jahn belonged to any organization.
"His words were definitively anti-ICE," said Larson. "That said, we did not find evidence of membership in any specific group or entity, nor did he mention any specific government agency other than ICE."
No federal agents were injured in the gunfire.
Officials said Jahn likely acted alone, out of his hatred for Washington.
Investigators said they've found video footage showing Jahn driving a car with a ladder on top of it as early as 3 a.m., Larson said.
He eventually used that ladder to climb to his rooftop perch and open fire at about 6:30 a.m., officials said.
