Dallas (Texas) [US], September 27: The sniper who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas left behind notes saying he acted alone in an attack intended to kill and "terrorize" ICE agents, whose work he viewed as "human trafficking," officials said on Thursday.
Although one person held in ICE custody was killed and two other detainees were critically wounded in Wednesday's bloodshed, it seemed clear from the gunman's writings that "he did not intend to kill detainees or harm them," Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said at a news conference.
No federal personnel were injured in the incident.
The perpetrator was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the rooftop of a nearby building from which he fired on the ICE building and its driveway with a bolt-action rifle, officials said. The weapon was legally purchased by the gunman in August, according to authorities.
The suspect was identified on Wednesday as Joshua Jahn, 29, a Dallas-area resident who previously attended a community college and had worked as a solar panel installer. He had climbed to his rooftop sniper's perch using a ladder carried to the scene atop his car, Larson said.
His writings were discovered during a search of his home in Fairview, Texas, Larson told reporters.
"Yes, it was just me and my brain," she quoted one of his notes as saying, adding that the messages showed a "game plan" for an attack.
"He hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking," the prosecutor said.
"What he did is the very definition of terrorism."
Joseph Rothrock, special agent in charge of the FBI field office in Dallas, said the shooter's own words state that he "committed this act alone, and all the evidence we have today would indicate that that's accurate."
"His handwritten notes showed that he did not expect to survive this event," Rothrock said.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
