‘Like a little war’: Protesters recall chaos as downtown Dallas transformed into scene of running gun battle
Protesters who had come to speak out against violence by police now found themselves in the crosshairs of violence apparently aimed at officers
After a peaceful march, the scene suddenly exploded into violence on Thursday when gunshots echoed through the streets, sending protesters and police officers alike scattering for cover. Bullets started flying, the crack of high-powered ammunition cannoning off skyscrapers and across downtown Dallas. Terrified protesters scattered in all directions as startled cops gazed up in search of the origin of the shots.
Police officers started shooting in one direction, and whoever was shooting started shooting back. And that’s where the war began
By the time it was over, at least five Dallas law enforcement officers were killed and seven wounded after “snipers” opened fire from “elevated positions”.
Protester Lynn Mays recalled the chaos that took hold when the shooting began.
“All of a sudden we started hearing gunshots out of nowhere,” he told the Dallas Morning News. “At first we couldn’t identify it because we weren’t expecting it, then we started hearing more, rapid fire. One police officer who was standing there pushed me out the way because it was coming our direction … next thing you know we heard ‘officer down’.
“Police officers started shooting in one direction, and whoever was shooting started shooting back. And that’s where the war began.”
Protesters who had come to speak out against violence by police now found themselves in the crosshairs of violence apparently aimed at police. Bystanders captured footage of cops dragging fallen comrades out of the line of fire.
Renee Sifflet, a mother of three teenagers who attended the rally and march, said she lost track of one of her children during the ensuing chaos.
“I brought them here for a positive experience, something they could say they were part of when they’re older, ” she said. “Then it turned negative.”
Robert Rodriguez, 30, was passing through Dallas with his 14-year-old son. They weren’t part of the protest but happened to be passing by it with their car windows down when they heard four shots ring out. There was a pause and then a continuous volley for many seconds. He described the scene as “like a little war”.
Bullets sparked off nearby train tracks and smacked into walls of buildings behind their Yukon Denali, Rodriguez said. He circled the block and saw a gunman dressed in camouflage, firing a long gun from his hip at officers. Officers crouched by a building returned fire. One cop car screeched to a halt and its driver started firing as he stepped out. The gunman didn’t appear to be hit because he continued to run and fire, Rodriguez said. He then turned another corner away from the gun battle.
“It was very intense,” he said. “My only thought was to get somewhere safe and get my son out of the line of fire.”
Stanley Brown, 19, was also downtown when the shooting began.
“You could hear the bullets whizzing by our car and hitting the buildings. A bullet missed our car by six feet,” he said. “We pulled into a garage and got out of our car and the bullets started hitting the walls of the garage.”
Brown ran around the corner of a building to take cover, only to see a gunman running up the street.
“He was ducking and dodging and when police approached,” he said. “An officer looked back at us and yelled that it was a terrorist attack.”
At least one protester, identified as 37-year-old Shetamia Taylor, was shot at the rally. Her sister said Taylor was at the protests with her four sons. Theresa Williams said that when the shooting began, Taylor threw herself over her sons. She was shot in the calf and underwent surgery yesterday.
While most protesters ran for cover, a few turned their cameras from the demonstration to the chaos unfolding around them. One man, identified as Michael Kevin, got so close to the parking garage, where much of the shooting took place, that officers ordered him to move back.
In perhaps the most shocking footage to emerge on the horrific and highly televised night, a gunman was filmed sneaking up behind a police officer and shooting the cop several times in the back at point-blank range. It is unclear if the officer survived.
“It looked like an execution honestly,” Ismael DeJesus, who took the video from an apartment building, told CNN. DeJesus said he thought the gunman, who carried an assault-style rifle, was wearing body armour as he appeared to get shot and keep going.
Cameras also captured police officers choking back tears for their fallen colleagues. One officer appeared to brace himself against his SUV as grief overcame him.
Later, at a press conference, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said: “I’ve never been more proud of [being] a police officer and being a part of this great, noble profession, seeing the courage, the professionalism and just grit to stay on scene, looking for suspects, knowing that we are vulnerable.”
