The gunman who fatally shot an immigrant and injured two others at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas left behind notes that outlined a plan to target ICE officers, federal law enforcement officials said on Thursday.
Nancy Larson, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said that the gunman, who authorities identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn of Fairview, in Collin County, wrote that he hated the federal government and wanted to terrorize ICE agents, who he described as “human traffickers.”
The gunman’s notes showed that he wanted ICE agents to feel “real terror of being gunned down,” Larson said, calling his actions the “very definition of terrorism.”
“It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel,” Larson said. “The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the sally port.”
R. Joseph Rothrock, the FBI special agent in charge of the Dallas office, said the gunman had legally purchased an 8mm bolt-action rifle last year and had been planning his attack for several months.
The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The wounded detainees were in critical condition as of Wednesday.
The shooting is at least the third at a Texas ICE facility in recent months.
Law enforcement officials at the news conferences on Wednesday and Thursday urged the public to tone down the political rhetoric toward immigration officers. Other GOP officials called for a general stop to the recent spate of political violence.
“This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to ‘Nazis,’” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Vice President JD Vance said on X that “the obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
“This needs to stop. Violence is wrong. Politically motivated violence is wrong,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said at the news conference. “We should not be putting language out there that inspires madmen.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the incident “horrific,” and said his office is making sure that “all resources are brought to bear in the investigation.”
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the shooting was “an attack on ICE law enforcement.”
Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X that the shooting “will NOT slow our arrest, detention, & deportation of illegal immigrants. We will work with ICE & the Dallas Police Dept. to get to the bottom of the assassin’s motive. We will offer ICE additional support to assist their operations.”
Congressman Brandon Gill (R-Flower Mound) blamed the left for triggering the violence.
“Democrats smear ICE agents as “Nazis” and “Gestapo.” Radical lunatics hear that rhetoric and act on it. This is political violence fueled by the Left,” Gill posted on X.
State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) lamented that law enforcement officers are facing rising threats for simply doing their job.
“Political violence has no place in our society and must be met with the full weight of justice. Please keep the victims and their loved ones in your prayers. We must never waver in our support of the brave men and women who risk their lives each and every day to uphold the rule of law and ensure the safety of every Texan.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/24/dallas-ICE-shooting-fatalities/.
