2 Snipers Ambush, Kill 5 Police Officers, Injure 6 in Dallas Following Peaceful Protest
July 7, 2016
Attack on law enforcement the deadliest in U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, 2nd deadliest since 1900.
Five officers are dead – four Dallas police officers and one DART transit officer – after two snipers ambushed and opened fire on police at the end of a peaceful protest against nationwide officer-involved shootings Thursday night, officials say.
The Dallas Police Department's Twitter account announced the fifth officer's death about 2 a.m., adding "It has been a devastating night."
One suspect is dead, a Dallas police detective tells NBC 5 early Friday morning, and three other suspects were in custody in connection with the shooting.
At least one civilian was injured. She was identified by family as Shetamia Taylor, and she was shot while shielding her children from the gunfire, her sister told NBC 5. Taylor's condition is not known.
A bomb squad investigated at least one suspicious package in the night as part of the massive police response.
Eleven officers in all were shot by gunmen in what police believe to be a coordinated ambush attack that began at 8:58 p.m., at the close of a rally in solidarity with two men killed in officer-involved shootings, one in Louisiana, one in Minnesota.
"We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves to triangulate on our officers and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could," Dallas Police Chief David Brown said.
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