A gunman who wrote “ANTI-ICE” on an unused bullet killed two detainees and wounded another on Wednesday (Sep 24) at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas before taking their own life, officials said.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on X of what he said were the suspect’s unspent shell casings that showed one with the words “ANTI-ICE” written along the side.
“While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack,” Patel wrote.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the suspect fired “indiscriminately” at the ICE building, including at a van in the building’s secured entryway where the victims were shot.
At a news briefing in Dallas, officials disclosed the existence of the shell casings but emphasised that the investigation was still in its early stages. Authorities were treating the attack as an “act of targeted violence,” Joseph Rothrock, special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, told reporters.
Officials did not offer any details about the suspect’s identity.
The shooter opened fire on the office from an adjacent building around 6.40am local time (7.40pm, Singapore time), police said. Two people were transported to a hospital with gunshot wounds, while a third person died at the scene.
Law enforcement officers were not injured in the shooting, officials said. The attack took place at an ICE field office, not a detention facility, where ICE officers conduct short-term processing of recently-arrested detainees.