What we know about Dallas ICE sniper suspect Joshua Jahn
Joshua Jahn is seen in a 2016 booking photo. (Collin County Sheriff’s Office)
(DALLAS) — The man suspected of the shooting at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Wednesday opened fire “indiscriminately” from a nearby rooftop, killing one detainee and wounding two others in a van, authorities said.
The shooting suspect was identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Authorities said he took his own life.
Here’s what we know about the suspect.
Suspect allegedly left behind note about ICE
FBI Director Kash Patel posed that Jahn allegedly left a handwritten note that read, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?” — referring to armor-piercing bullets.
Patel also said “further accumulated evidence to this point indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” with the suspect allegedly downloading a document titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management” that contained a “list of DHS facilities.”
Jahn also allegedly “searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents,” Patel said. He added the suspect “conducted multiple searches of ballistics and the ‘Charlie Kirk Shot Video'” between Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.
‘Anti-ICE’ messages on casings
There is no word yet on a possible motive.
However, FBI officials said rounds found near the suspect contained “messages that are anti-ICE in nature.”
Patel released an image of recovered shell casings, including one that had been engraved with the phrase “ANTI ICE,” he said.
While no officers were injured, the Department of Homeland Security said the shooting was “an attack on ICE law enforcement.”
A spokesperson for the University of Texas – Dallas said that a person matching Jahn’s name and date of birth had “briefly attended” the university “over a decade ago.”
Childhood friends remember avid gamer
Two childhood friends told ABC News they had not seen Jahn in around 10 years, but remembered him as mainly interested in video games and internet culture.
Both friends asked not to be named due to concerns about potential harassment.
“This is a complete shock to me,” one of the friends told ABC News. “Josh was the least political out of all the people I knew in high school. He liked playing video games.”
Both friends provided a username that they said belonged to Jahn on the gaming website Steam, which is also linked to a Reddit account.
The Reddit account has not been used in around six years. Previous posts point to an interest in gaming and smoking marijuana.
In addition to the Reddit account, the Steam profile appearing to belong to Jahn pointed to the life of an avid gamer, with over 10,000 hours spent playing games like Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Rust.
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — William McNeil, Jr., the 22-year-old college student whose violent arrest was captured in a viral cell phone video earlier this year, filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against two sheriff’s deputies involved in his arrest, the sheriff and the city of Jacksonville, Florida, after prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against the officers in the case.
McNeil was arrested during a traffic stop on Feb. 19 after police said he was pulled over for allegedly not having his headlights on while it was raining. He appeared alongside his attorney Ben Crump and Harry Daniels during a press conference in Jacksonville on Wednesday where the lawsuit was announced.
“I really just wanted my side of the story to be heard … I hope my story gets heard today,” McNeil said in brief remarks on Wednesday.
Court records say that McNeil was arrested and charged with “resisting arrest without violence to his or her person,” possessing not more than 20 grams of marijuana with intent to use drug paraphernalia, driving while driver’s license is suspended, not wearing a seatbelt and no headlights in rain/fog/or smoke.
Additionally, court records show that McNeil was sentenced to and served two days in jail for resisting arrest without violence and driving with a suspended license.
Crump said on Wednesday that the legal team filed the lawsuit “not just because of the violent, brutal attack on this young college student who wasn’t violent,” but also because prosecutors declined to file charges against the officers involved in this case.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida – Jacksonville Division, accuses the officers of “excessive force” and alleges that the policies of the sheriff’s office and the city allow “officers to utilize unwarranted and excessive physical force against an individual who poses no immediate threat to the officer or to others.”
The lawsuit also claims that the policies of the sheriff’s office do not require officers to report all incidents of force.
“This policy creates a setting that promotes its officers to engage in illegal or excessive use of force without the fear of encountering any repercussions or consequences, nor the obligation to report such actions,” the complaint alleges.
According to the lawsuit, McNeil suffered a laceration to his chin and his lip, a fractured tooth and a closed head injury that led him to be “diagnosed with an ongoing traumatic brain injury.”
He is seeking a jury trial and at least $100,000 in damages for physical and emotional distress, at least $100,000 in punitive damages, as well as attorneys fees and other costs, the complaint says.
“As a result of pending litigation, we would be unable to comment further on this incident,” a spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told ABC News on Wednesday.
ABC News reached out to the city of Jacksonville but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
The officers involved are named in the lawsuit as D. Bowers and D. Miller. It is unclear if they have retained attorneys. ABC News has reached out to the Jacksonville Consolidated Lodge No. 5-30 of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which is the union representing the officers, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
Prosecutors announced the decision not to file any criminal charges against the officers in this case in a 16-page memo released on Aug. 13 by the state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court, which serves Clay, Duval, and Nassau counties in Florida.
“Officer Bowers conducted a lawful traffic stop and gave McNeil 12 individual lawful commands, which McNeil refused to obey. Repeatedly requesting a supervisor and arguing the merits of the traffic stop did not absolve McNeil from following lawful orders,” the memo said. “McNeil’s refusal to provide his identification, registration, and proof of insurance, followed by his refusal to exit the SUV, show his hands, and obey the officers’ orders, created a dangerous situation for all involved.”
Crump criticized that decision on Wednesday, saying, “Just because they say it’s legal, that doesn’t make it right.”
In response to the memo, the police union defended the officer’s actions in an Aug. 13 statement posted on its Facebook account.
“When you allow due process and thorough investigations to occur you get facts and evidence. Not emotions, agendas and politics being pushed by radical people in our community and some elected officials who felt like they had to hear themselves speak before all the facts were known,” the union said.
Crump and Daniels criticized prosecutors for not filing charges and called on the U.S Department of Justice to investigate this case in a Sept. 8 statement.
“It’s not just how violent and brutal these officers were. It’s that they were absolutely unapologetic because they knew no one was going to hold them accountable,” Daniels said. “It’s clear that the State Attorney’s Office refuses to do anything about it. So we’re calling on the Department of Justice.”
ABC News reached out to the DOJ but a request for comment was not returned.
Sheriff T.K. Waters announced an internal review of the incident during a July 21 press conference and said that the actions of the officers were being examined in an “administrative review,” which will determine if the deputies “violated [Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office] policy.”
“Pending the outcome of this administrative review, Officer Bowers has been stripped of his law enforcement authority,” Waters said at the time. It is unclear if other deputies involved in the arrest have been placed on administrative leave.
Asked about the status of the investigation and the employment status of officers named in the lawsuit, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — After a gunman opened fire in a New York City office building and killed four people, experts expressed some concerns regarding security in workplace environments.
Four people were killed and one was injured on Monday after police say 27-year-old Shane Devon Tamura entered a Midtown Manhattan office building — which is home to the NFL headquarters — wearing body armor and opened fire with a high-powered rifle, according to authorities.
Donald Mihalek, a senior ABC News law enforcement contributor and retired United States Secret Service agent, said these types of workplace shootings are on the rise due to people — employees and those not affiliated with the company — feeling more comfortable with vilifying corporations and taking out their grievances through violence.
From 1994 to 2021, 16,497 U.S. workers were “intentionally killed while at work,” according to 2024 study. Other recent shootings that occurred at workplaces include the 2021 incident at an office complex in Southern California, killing four people, and a 2023 incident at a bank in Kentucky, killing five and injuring eight.
“Corporations are now feeling what governments have felt for many years, being targeted, being vilified,” Mihalek told ABC News.
So, what was learned from this incident and how can office buildings help mitigate these shootings from escalating?
Security outside an office building and artificial intelligence monitoring potential threats
On Monday, the suspect emerged from a double-parked BMW with an M4-style weapon Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle, entered the lobby alone, immediately opened fire on a New York Police Department officer and sprayed the lobby with bullets.
Richard Frankel, an ABC News contributor and retired FBI special agent, said Tamura’s ability to leave his vehicle double-parked and walk with a visible weapon “without anyone even thinking about it or causing concern” is “a little bit of an issue.”
“It’s crazy that he was able to walk on a Manhattan street into a building and not be seen carrying a long gun,” Frankel told ABC News. “How was he able to just walk with no one seeing him carrying an assault weapon and actually having it dangle out from his jacket?”
To prevent something similar happening in the future, Frankel said a corporation increasing its security presence outside the building — by establishing a private government partnership or hiring individuals — could help prevent the threat from actually entering the presence.
Frankel also said there is artificial intelligence and video technology used by federal buildings that could “observe what somebody is doing and consider whether that’s a threat or not.” If an armed individual is approaching the building, “an alarm would go off” with this technology, Frankel said.
Understanding the difference between handgun and rifle violence
With this shooting, the gunman opened fire using a rifle, which is a “more powerful weapon” that can travel a greater distance and has a greater capacity to penetrate compared to a handgun, Mihalek said.
Thus, corporations should think to make a “significant investment” in armor and bulletproof glass around the entranceways of the building, he said. While it is “very difficult” for someone to protect themselves from a rifle, a “man trap system” — where somebody has to be let through different phases of the building in order to get to the heart of the structure — could also help slow down the attack.
Conducting threat assessments
Mihalek also recommends that corporations conduct threat assessments, where a business identifies individuals — both employees and those not affiliated with the company — who may be potential threats of violence due to a recent termination, relationship turmoil or social media posts showing grievances toward the company or individuals at the company.
While it is unclear whether the suspect in Monday’s shooting was posting threats on social media, officials had found a note in his pocket accusing the National Football League of concealing the dangers to players’ brains to maximize profits, sources said. So “chances are he had some type of social media presence or online presence somewhere where he might have said a few things about the NFL,” which could have alerted of a potential threat beforehand.
This behavioral assessment is a holistic process that detects, identifies and processes potential threats, Mihalek said.
“This individual could have perhaps said something concerning online or elsewhere but if no one reports it or is looking, it can’t be detected,” Mihalek said.
Implementing active shooter drills, training for employees
Along with buildings implementing additional security and keeping a lookout for potential threats, both Mihalek and Frankel said corporations should implement routine active shooter drills and provide both online and in-person training conducted by local law enforcement.
Mihalek said buildings should also partner with local law enforcement and emergency medical services so they can “understand the layout of the building” so that they are prepared for a potential threat to that particular office space.
The Department of Homeland Security also has basic active shooter protocols instructing individuals in an active shooter situation to “run, hide and fight,” which Mihalek said is used in many schools and is “simple, effective and it works.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
An incident was reported at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Bureau compound in East Los Angeles, July 18, 2025. KABC
(LOS ANGELES) — At least three people were killed in an apparent “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles law enforcement training facility, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
The victims, employees of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, appeared to be handling explosives when there was a blast, sources told ABC News. The facility, a Special Enforcement Bureau compound, also houses the bomb squad.
“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more,” Bondi wrote on social media.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
