Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said details were still emerging but confirmed there were “multiple injuries and fatalities” at the field office
Dozens of emergency vehicles were seen along a highway near the facility. Representational pic
Three people have been shot at a United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas on Wednesday, news agency AP reported. The shooter is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the agency's director said.
“It could be employees, it could be civilians that were visiting the facility, it could be detainees. At this point, we're still working through that,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told CNN about the identity of the victims.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said details were still emerging but confirmed there were “multiple injuries and fatalities” at the field office. Noem added that the motive remained unclear, though she noted there has been an uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
Dozens of emergency vehicles were seen along a highway near the facility.
The ICE facility is located along Interstate 35 East, just southwest of Dallas Love Field, a major commercial airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, and only a few blocks from hotels catering to airport travellers, reported AP.
Traffic cameras near the site showed six lanes of a normally busy freeway empty, with cars and semitrailers coming to a halt on an interstate exit.
ICE and Homeland Security did not immediately provide further details.
The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department was dispatched at 6.41 am (local time) following a call reporting a shooting at or near the immigration office, department spokesperson Jason L Evans said in an email.
Evans added that he did not have confirmed details to share, describing it as an active and ongoing incident.
Immigration facilities have come under attack previously, too.
On July 4, a police officer at an immigration detention centre in Texas suffered injuries after he was shot at in the neck. The attackers, dressed in black military-style clothing, had opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of the city, according to federal prosecutors. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
Three days later, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at federal agents as they were leaving a US Border Patrol facility in McAllen, another facility in Texas. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a police officer who responded before authorities shot and killed him. Police later found additional weaponry, ammunition, and backpacks inside his car.
(With AP inputs)
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