SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The FBI is investigating a shooting at a Dallas ICE field office as an act of targeted violence that left one detainee dead and two others in serious condition.
Authorities say a sniper fired at the facility from a nearby rooftop Wednesday morning. The suspect, identified as Joshua Jahn, turned the gun on himself.
No law enforcement officers were injured in the shooting, but the Department of Homeland Security called it an attack on ICE law enforcement.
Late Wednesday afternoon, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the department to increase security at all ICE facilities nationwide.
ICE has its own field office in San Diego, housed in the downtown federal building. In the past, the local agency has discussed the dangers its agents face on a daily basis.
After the Dallas shooting, I reached out to San Diego Field Office Director Patrick Divver for an interview, but received no response. I have requested interviews with Divver multiple times in the past, but he has not agreed to meet so far.
The San Diego field office has previously sent statements for other stories, mentioning how ICE officers are “dangerously targeted and doxed.” In one instance, they explained officers wear masks because they and their families are increasingly being targeted and assaulted.
Security to enter the federal building where immigration activity happens is typically tight on any given day.
ABC 10News has covered ICE enforcement in the county, including a raid on a restaurant in South Park that led to community outrage, with people confronting agents as they worked. There have also been several arrests near schools in North County, with community members filming and questioning the agents.
Federal officials have not shared a motive in the Dallas shooting, but the FBI says they found bullets on the scene with the word “anti-ICE.” The victims, however, were detainees.
Pedro Rios, a local immigrant rights advocate, does not condone the violence in Dallas but says he thinks it’s time to take a closer look at how detainees are treated in this country.
“Any type of violence against, whether it’s people that are detained or people that are involved in detaining them, I think, is in response to so much hateful rhetoric that we’re hearing,” Rios said.
“Analyze that people’s human rights are being trampled upon and immediate and urgent actions need to be taken,” Rios said.
The detainees shot have not been identified.
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