Dallas gunman Micah Johnson plotted bigger assault and wrote message in his own blood, says police chief
The US military veteran who fatally shot five Dallas police officers last week was plotting a larger assault, possibly using explosives, and he taunted police and wrote on a wall in his own blood before being killed, authorities said on Sunday.
Instead, Micah X. Johnson improvised and used his military training to gun down officers during a demonstration on Thursday evening, Dallas Police Chief David Brown told CNN. It was the deadliest day for US law enforcement since the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“We’re convinced that this suspect had other plans,” said Brown, adding that the recent deaths of two black men at the hands of police in Minnesota and Louisiana led the Texas shooter to “fast-track” his plans and launch his attack.
He said a search of Johnson’s home turned up signs the gunman had practised using explosives, and that other evidence suggested he wanted to use them against law enforcement targets.
Before being killed by a bomb-equipped robot, Johnson sang, laughed at and taunted officers, according to Brown, telling them he wanted to “kill white people” in retribution for police killings of black people. “He seemed very much in control and very determined to hurt other officers,” the police chief said.
Speaking at a local hospital, 12-year-old Jamar Taylor told reporters how he was separated from his mother and lost his telephone when the bullets began to fly.
“I was scared. I really didn’t know what was going to happen,” a sobbing Jamar said. His mother, Shetamia Taylor, was shot in the leg. A stranger helped the boy to safety.
Brown said police had been caught off guard when some protesters broke away from Thursday’s demonstration, and his officers were exposed to the gunfire as they raced to block off intersections ahead of the marchers.
Brown vigorously defended the decision to use a robot to kill the gunman, saying “about a pound of C4” explosive was attached to it. And he said Johnson scrawled the letters “RB” in his own blood on a wall before dying.
“We’re trying to figure out through looking at things in his home what those initials mean,” the police chief said.
At the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas, Roman Catholic parishioners gathered on Sunday for their weekly service and to remember the fallen officers.
Reverend Eugene Azorji based his sermon on the Biblical tale of the Good Samaritan, which chronicles the life-saving actions of a stranger to a man in need.
“I would like you to join me and asking, ‘Who is my neighbour?’” Azorji, who is black, told the congregation. “Those who put their lives on the line every day to bring a security and peace, they represent our neighbour.”
