A sniper opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas early Wednesday morning, killing one person and injuring two others before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials confirmed.
According to law enforcement sources, at least two of the victims are detainees. The shooter fired from a rooftop of a nearby building, sending local and federal law enforcement scrambling to secure the area.
“We’ve got one officer on scene. We’ve got one officer en route … This is going to be a sniper on top of the roof,” one officer says in dispatch audio obtained via Broadcastify.
Dallas police later said the suspect fired from “an adjacent building.” One victim died at the scene. Two others were transported to the hospital. The shooter was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. No ICE agents were injured.
The ICE field office is typically used to process detainees before they are transferred to longer-term detention centers and usually holds a few dozen people at a time.
This marks the third violent incident targeting Texas immigration enforcement facilities in 2025.
On July 4, a coordinated attack on the Prairieland Detention Center left a local police officer shot in the neck. Days later, a gunman wearing tactical gear opened fire on a Border Patrol facility in McAllen. Two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured before the gunman was shot and killed by police.
In August, the same Dallas ICE facility went into lockdown after a man claiming to have a bomb in his backpack arrived at the premises. He was arrested without incident.
DHS Blames Escalating Rhetoric
The Department of Homeland Security released a sharp statement blaming inflammatory language from activists, politicians, and some media outlets for helping fuel violence.
“These incidents come after months of smears and rhetoric by activists, politicians, and the media comparing ICE law enforcement to the Nazi Gestapo, kidnappers, and the Secret Police,” DHS said. “This shameful rhetoric has fueled a culture of hate against law enforcement resulting in a 1,000 percent increase in assaults against them.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the shooter had taken his own life.
“Details are still emerging but we can confirm there were multiple injuries and fatalities,” Noem posted on X.
“While we don’t know motive yet, we know that our ICE law enforcement is facing unprecedented violence against them. It must stop.”
Vice President JD Vance quickly tied the attack to a larger narrative of politically motivated violence against law enforcement, despite the lack of confirmed motive or suspect information.
“The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop,” Vance wrote on X. “I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families.”
His post followed one by Noem, but notably came before investigators had released any information about the shooter’s identity or reason for the attack.
As of now, authorities have not suggested a motive, and no connections to political extremism or organized groups have been made public.
FBI, ICE, and Police Continue Investigation.
