A total of 11 police officers were shot during the protests.
AB Wire
Five police officers were shot dead and several others injured on Thursday night in downtown Dallas as crowds protested the fatal shootings of two African-American men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.
A total of 10 police officers were shot during the protests, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said. An 11th was shot during an exchange of gunfire with one of the suspects, and the officer was transported to the hospital, CNN reported quoting the authorities.
“Two of the shooters were snipers, who shot from an elevated position and fired on officers ambush-style”, Police Chief said.
An “alleged suspect” is in custody, the Dallas Police Department tweeted. Police also circulated the photo of another suspect, but later called him a person of interest and said he turned himself in.
Gunfire broke out around 8.45 pm Thursday while hundreds of people were gathered to protest over the deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana.
Castile, 32, was shot by a police officer after a traffic stop on Wednesday. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds went live on Facebook immediately after her fiancé was shot by police in his car and the video was widely shared on Facebook.
In the video, Reynold’s four-year-old daughter is seen watching the incident from the back seat.
Castile’s death occurred within a day of the shooting of 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Sterling was killed during an altercation with two white police officers and a video of the incident recorded by a bystander on his smartphone triggered outcry on social media.
People vented their anger over the killings of the two black men in two days, all across the US.
Video footage from the scene is also circulating in the social media. It shows that protesters were marching along a street in down town, about half a mile from City Hall, suddenly shots erupts and the crowd scatters, seeking cover.
The search for the gunman stretched throughout downtown, an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments. The scene was chaotic, with helicopters hovering overhead and officers with automatic rifles on the street corners.
“Everyone was screaming, people were running,” Clarissa Myles, an eye-witness, said. “I saw at least probably 30 shots go off.”
Officers have cleared the streets and are going around parking garages, looking for the shooter, Ben Ferguson, who lives in Dallas, told Lemon.
All rail and bus services have been suspended.
Social Media Updates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPV_0VvkbV4
With heavy hearts, we are devastated to report a fourth officer has been killed.
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016
Update: pic.twitter.com/ukWSZJeZo3
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016