1 Detainee Killed, 2 Wounded in Shooting at Dallas ICE Facility

DALLAS — Investigators say the words “ANTI-ICE” were written on an unspent round found Wednesday morning at the scene of a shooting that killed a detainee and wounded two others at a Dallas ICE facility.

Joseph Rothrock, the FBI agent in charge of the Dallas field office, said his agency was investigating the gunfire as “an act of targeted violence.”

Homeland Security officials confirmed three detainees were shot. One died at the scene, while the remaining two victims were hospitalized in critical condition. Their identities were not released.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem wrote on X that the shooter, who was also not publicly identified, is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Dozens of law enforcement officers descended about 6:40 a.m. on the building in the 8100 block of North Stemmons Freeway in the Stemmons Corridor. A steady rain fell as police officers and federal agents milled about, some crowding under the awning of a Burger King or at a nearby Schlotzky’s. Others took shelter under nearby trees. A stream of firetrucks and squad cars circled the area.

Police also swarmed an adjacent building that houses the practice of an immigration lawyer. Investigators believe the shooter opened fire from the roof – a yellow structure equipped with an exterior staircase. A door on the outside of the third floor remained open.

The shooter fired “indiscriminately,” Homeland Security officials said in an emailed statement, including at a van in the sallyport where the victims were hit.

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that an initial review of the evidence showed an ideological motive behind the attack. He said an unspent shell casing that was recovered from the scene was engraved with the phrase, “ANTI-ICE.”

In an interview on Fox News, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said bullets were also found “throughout” the building. Sheahan said ICE is working with the FBI to identify the weapon, but said it does not look “like a modern firearm.”

She explained the unspent rounds found at the scene were in a stripper clip, a device used to quickly load rounds into a firearm that does not have a detachable magazine, such as a bolt-action rifle.

A steady rain fell as police officers and federal agents milled about Wednesday, some crowding under the awning of a Burger King or at a nearby Schlotzky’s. Others took shelter under nearby trees. A stream of firetrucks and squad cars circled the area.

Nearby businesses, including a photography studio and a law office shuttered their doors amid the commotion.

News conference calls for end to ‘political violence’

At a morning news conference, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson offered prayers for the victims. As authorities sought answers, he asked Dallas residents to “exercise a little bit of restraint.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who also was in attendance, referenced the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month and called for an end to political violence, as well as specifically imploring an end to political rhetoric demonizing ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.

“Look, in America, we disagree. That’s fine. That’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis,” Cruz said.

When asked if the victims were immigrants being detained, Cruz said that while the victims’ identities had not been released, it was a “natural inference” that they may be detainees since it was confirmed that no law enforcement officials were injured.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state fully supported ICE in the aftermath of the shooting. The state’s department of public safety and the National Guard worked closely with the immigration enforcement agency, he said.

“This assassination will NOT slow our arrest, detention, & deportation of illegal immigrants,” Abbott said in a post on X. He added the state officials will work with ICE and the Dallas Police Department to “get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive” and would send in additional resources to assist immigration enforcement.

News conference calls for end to ‘political violence’

At a morning news conference, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson offered prayers for the victims. As authorities sought answers, he asked Dallas residents to “exercise a little bit of restraint.”

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who was also in attendance, referenced the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month and called for an end to political violence and implored an end to political rhetoric demonizing ICE and U.S. border agents.

“Look, in America, we disagree. That’s fine. That’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis,” Cruz said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state fully supported ICE in the aftermath of the shooting.

“This assassination will NOT slow our arrest, detention, & deportation of illegal immigrants,” Abbott said in a post on X. He added the state officials will work with ICE and the Dallas’ police department to “get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive” and would provide additional resources to assist immigration enforcement.

Witnesses describe ‘terrifying’ scene

With his 6-year-old son at his side, Edwin Cardona, a Dallas resident from Venezuela, was inside the field office for his third check-in when the gunfire erupted. He carried only a blue folder with his documents; his cellphone had been taken at the front desk.

From inside, he saw flashes of light and feared for his wife and his 9-year-old son, who were waiting for him outside. His wife, he said, was later interviewed by investigators.

“The situation was terrifying,” Cardona, 36, recalled in an interview in Spanish as law enforcement circled the field office a few blocks away.

Josh Freais, a cook with Alonti catering who arrived at the office near the shooting, went to take out the trash when he heard several bangs.

At first, he did not know they were gun shots. The bangs were not in quick succession but spaced out by several seconds, he said.

He did not see a shooter, he said, as it was still dark outside. He heard a total of 10 shots over the span of 60 to 90 seconds. He didn’t hear any shots before he stepped outside to take out the trash.

“It’s really tough. It’s sad,” Freais said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “I’ve never been this close to anything like this.”

Backdrop for protests

The Dallas ICE field office is used for migrants to check in with ICE agents and hold migrants who have been arrested until they can be sent to long-term detention centers across the country. Migrants picked up by ICE at local jails are also first transferred to the field office to be processed.

Buses in the mornings typically are transporting Mexican nationals to the border to be deported, said Dallas immigration attorney George Rodriguez. Transfers from the Dallas office to other detention centers tend to use vans and take place in the afternoon or evening, he said.

The office has been a backdrop for protests over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement. Demonstrations this year have included CAIR-DFW and Students for Justice in Palestine, the Brown Berets de DFW, and regular prayer vigils by interfaith clergy and Faith Commons.

In August, a 35-year-old man was arrested after police say he showed up to the same Dallas office and claimed to have a bomb in his backpack and detonator on his wrist. Police searched his backpack and found clothes, a screwdriver, a bottle of peroxide and pair of binoculars, but no explosives, Still, the threat prompted a shelter-in-place order and response from the Dallas police bomb squad.

On July 4, a planned protest at an ICE detention center in Alvarado escalated with one officer shot. At least 15 people have been arrested. so far in connection with what federal authorities described as a “planned ambush.” The officer who was shot in the neck survived.

“It’s a tragic situation, a sad morning,” said former Dallas Council member Omar Narvaez, who once oversaw the district where the ICE facility is located.

Narvaez said he worried about the mental toll on the communities in Dallas, especially immigrants who were already concerned about stepping out due to months of ICE enforcement and detentions.

Narvaez decried the violence and said family members of the victims are people who have lost someone dear to them.

“Please put the guns down, violence is not the answer for everything,” he said.

‘Our community is being targeted’

As Mayor Eric Johnson traveled to the news conference outside the ICE facility, Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno led the weekly council meeting.

Council members did not directly address the shooting. However, during his speech celebrating filmmaker Merced Elizondo as part of Hispanic Heritage Month, councilmember Adam Bazaldua said it was important to uplift the voices of the Hispanic community, he said, “especially on a day like today, when our community is being targeted to stoke fear in our city.”

Public speakers signed up to speak about suicide prevention awareness also addressed the shooting. Scott Spreier, an advocate with the Giffords Gunowners for Safety, shared his personal story about battling a mental health crisis and finding help before things went too far.

“Others aren’t so lucky today, fueled by our divisive cultural and social environment, culture of fear and hate, as well as the endless bloviation of social media, depression is on the rise, and with it suicide and gun violence we saw again today, just a few hours ago, just up the road,” he said.

Staff writers Devyani Chhetri, Sarah Bahari, Chase Rogers, Matt Kyle and Imelda Garcia contributed to this report.

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