08 July 2016•Update: 08 July 2016
NEW YORK
Five Dallas police officers were killed after at least 10 were targeted by snipers late Thursday in a Black Lives Matter protest in the city, according to U.S. authorities.
An active shooter situation is underway as police were negotiating and engaging a suspect over the last hour in a parking garage on the Maine Street near El Centro College. Three other suspects are in custody.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said early Friday the active suspect told officers that the "end is coming", and bombs were planted "all over the place" and he was "going to hurt and kill more of us", meaning law enforcement.
He continued to shoot at officers while holed up in the parking garage, Brown added.
The downtown campus and wellness center belonging to the college remain under lockdown and loud blasts are heard near Main St., according to media reports.
A suspicious package was found near the location of a shootout with one suspect, authorities said. The suspect has been detained and the package is being handled by the bomb squad, police said in a tweet.
"Today it appears two snipers shot 10 police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally. Three officers are deceased, two are in surgery and three are in critical condition," Chief Brown had said in an earlier statement.
Two more tweets by the department's official account later announced the passing of two other officers, bringing the death toll to five.
An intense search in underway for suspects, Brown said.
The department said a male wearing a camouflage colored t-shirt, whose image had been circulated, was later released from custody after it emerged he handed over his rifle to officers after the shooting began to avoid confusion before turning himself in for questioning.
U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to weigh in on the events as he is in Warsaw for a NATO summit. The White House said he is being briefed on the situation, according to Reuters.
In a brief press conference late Thursday alongside Chief Brown, Dallas Mayor Rawlings called on residents to unite to support the victims.
“Let’s come together and support our police officers," he said. "Please, let’s come together as a city.”
Black Lives Matter posted on Twitter Friday, saying the group "advocates dignity, justice and freedom. Not murder."
Earlier Thursday, Community Safety Institute Executive Director John Matthews told CNN it was a "horrible day not only for Dallas but for the whole country."
Dallas Area Rapid Transit said Friday they were mourning the loss of a member of its police force, 43-year-old Brent Thompson who had joined in 2009.
Rail and bus service are suspended in the city and flights over Dallas airspace restricted as police have cleared the streets and pushed media away from the scene.
Facebook activated its safety check feature for those affected by the tragedy in Dallas.
The city was one of a number of cities that held otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protests Thursday.
The demonstrations come on the heels of the deaths of three black men killed at the hands of police officers on three consecutive days, with the most recent shooting unfolding Wednesday in Minnesota.
That state’s governor said if the victim, Philando Castile, were not black, he’d be alive.
“Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver were white?” Mark Dayton asked rhetorically. “I don't think it would have.”
