A gunman who wrote "ANTI-ICE" on an unused bullet killed two detainees and wounded another when he fired on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas from a nearby rooftop before taking his own life, officials have said.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on X of what he said were the suspect's unspent shell casings that showed one with the words "ANTI-ICE" written along the side.
"While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack," Mr Patel wrote.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the suspect fired "indiscriminately" at the ICE building, including at a van in the building's secured entryway where the victims were shot. The wounded detainee was in critical condition, the statement said.
This morning just before 7am local time, an individual fired multiple rounds at a Dallas, Texas ICE facility, killing one, wounding several others, before taking his own life. FBI, DHS, ATF are on the ground with Dallas PD and state authorities.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 24, 2025
While the investigation is… pic.twitter.com/SMOyxiKLqA
NBC News and Fox News, both citing sources, identified the gunman as Joshua Jahn, 29. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm their reports.
A Reuters reporter interviewed Mr Jahn's older brother, Noah, earlier in the day as Joshua Jahn's name began circulating online in connection with the shooting.
Noah, 30, said he was not aware that his brother harboured any negative feelings about ICE.
"I didn't know he had any political intent at all," said Noah Jahn, who lives in McKinney, Texas, around 50km north of Dallas, as did his brother.
At the time of the interview, Mr Jahn said he was not sure whether his brother was involved but that he had begun to fear the worst after none of the family could reach him by phone.
A Reuters journalist saw FBI agents entering a house in McKinney at the address listed in online records for Joshua Jahn this afternoon.
The incident comes two weeks after the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk by a sniper during an event in Orem, Utah, which fueled fears of a new wave of political violence in the United States.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials have blamed, without proof, liberal organisations for fomenting unrest and encouraging violence against the right.
On Monday, Mr Trump signed an executive order declaring the anti-fascist movement antifa as a domestic "terrorist organisation" despite the fact that there has been no evidence made public linking antifa to Mr Kirk's death.
At a news briefing in Dallas, officials emphasised the investigation was still in its early stages.
Authorities were treating the attack as an "act of targeted violence," Joseph Rothrock, special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Dallas field office, told reporters.
Today's shooter opened fire on the office from atop an adjacent building around 640am local time (12.40pm Irish time), police said.
Law enforcement officers were not injured in the shooting, officials said. The attack took place at an ICE field office, not a detention facility, where ICE officers conduct short-term processing of recently-arrested detainees.
The Trump administration's aggressive use of ICE agents as part of its crackdown on undocumented immigrants has sparked outcries from Democrats and liberal activists.
ICE detention facilities have increasingly become sites of conflict, with heavily armed agents deploying pepper ball guns, tear gas and other chemical agents in clashes with protesters.
An ICE facility in suburban Chicago, where protesters have gathered daily since a Trump administration immigration surge began earlier this month, erected fencing on Monday after several demonstrators, including the mayor of Evanston, Illinois, were injured in a clash with agents last week.
Today’s attack was the third shooting this year in Texas at a Department of Homeland Security facility.
A police officer was shot in a July incident at an ICE detention center in Prairieland, and a 27-year-old Michigan man was shot dead by agents after opening fire on a US Border Patrol station in McAllen in July.
