As many as 11 police officers were recently shot by an unknown number of snipers in Dallas. Unfortunately, four out of these 11 officers have died, three are in critical condition and two are in surgery. The entire situation broke out during a protest against police brutality.
As USA Today reports, one witness, Richard Adams, shares that the protest started off as "a lovely, peaceful march." The Dallas Police Department was even sharing photos on their official Twitter account of the protest. The police officers seemed to be enjoying their time as well, as they were posing with the demonstrators.
Unfortunately, everything went downhill once the crowd reached Commerce Street near the parking building of Bank of America. At that point, shots were heard and the crowd ran away in the opposite direction. Just when things started to get quiet again, more gunshots were fired.
Following the incident, Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown shares that the police department started to circulate a photo of their "person of interest." This person appeared to be carrying a rifle during the march and eventually turned himself in. He joins another suspect that the DPD has taken into custody as well.
NBC DFW adds that Brown believes it was a completely premeditated move. "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," he said.
The Dallas Police Department has called on the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for help with the post-shootout proceedings. It believes that there are more individuals involved in the shooting and are requesting for the help of these departments to inspect the area for any clues. A suspicious package was also left on the scene, which was secured by the DPD bomb squad.
