Federal investigators said Thursday that the man behind this week’s deadly shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas engaged in detailed preparation before carrying out the attack.
FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that the suspect, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, had downloaded a document containing locations of Department of Homeland Security sites in Dallas County. Investigators also recovered handwritten notes suggesting he wanted ICE agents to believe they could be targeted by a sniper.
The attack began Wednesday morning when shots were fired from a rooftop, striking an ICE transport van and parts of the detention complex. One detainee inside the van was killed and two others were seriously wounded. No ICE personnel were harmed. Jahn later took his own life at the scene, authorities said.
Patel noted that the suspect had recently searched online for ballistics information as well as the video of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing earlier this month in Utah. That murder also involved a rooftop shooter using a scoped rifle. “The evidence gathered so far indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” Patel said.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the incident a chilling reminder of rising political violence across the United States. “It’s very troubling and it hit close to home,” Johnson told CNN, urging restraint and condemning what he described as the vilification of ICE.
The shooting drew swift condemnation from the Trump administration, which called it an assault on federal law enforcement. ICE has been at the center of national controversy amid a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and mass deportation efforts.
The suspect’s motive remains under investigation. NBC reported that a family member described Jahn as not overtly political, though investigators recovered a bullet casing etched with the phrase “Anti-ICE.”
