Motive of shooter who officials say opened fire at Dallas ICE facility
remains unclear
[September 25, 2025]
By JAMIE STENGLE and JACK BROOK
DALLAS (AP) — For the second time in two weeks a shooter on a rooftop
inflicted death on the ground, this time at a U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas where a detainee was killed and
two others were critically wounded by a gunman who then fatally shot
himself.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that shots were
fired early Wednesday “indiscriminately at the ICE building, including
at a van in the sallyport,” a secure and gated entryway. The detainees
were in the van. No ICE personnel were injured.
The shooter was identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn by a law
enforcement official who could not publicly disclose details of the
investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity. Investigators were seeking to determine the motive.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet
found at the scene with “ANTI-ICE” written on it. Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more security at ICE facilities across the
U.S., according to a post by the DHS on the social platform X.
The attack was the latest high-profile targeted killing in the U.S.,
coming two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by
a shooter on the roof of a building at Utah Valley University and as
heightened immigration enforcement has prompted backlash against ICE
agents and fear in immigrant communities.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association called the shootings “a
stark reminder that behind every immigration case number is a human
being deserving of dignity, safety, and respect.”
“Whether they are individuals navigating the immigration process, public
servants carrying out their duties, or professionals working within the
system, all deserve to be free from violence and fear,” the group said
in a statement.
‘Targeted violence’
Authorities have given few details about the shooting and did not
publicly release the names of the victims or the gunman. The FBI said it
was investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.”
The gunman used a bolt-action rifle, according to a law enforcement
official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Edwin Cardona, an immigrant from Venezuela, said he was entering the ICE
building with his son for an appointment around 6:20 a.m. when he heard
gunshots. An agent took people who were inside to a more secure area and
said there was an active shooter.
“I was afraid for my family, because my family was outside. I felt
terrible, because I thought something could happen to them,” Cardona
said, adding that they were later reunited.
The ICE facility is along Interstate 35 East, just southwest of Dallas
Love Field, a large airport serving the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan
area, and blocks from hotels.
Who was Joshua Jahn?
Hours after the shooting, FBI agents gathered at a suburban Dallas home
that public records link to Jahn.
It sits on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in a neighborhood dotted with one-
and two-story brick homes. The street was blocked by a Fairview police
vehicle, and officials wearing FBI jackets could be seen in the front
yard.
A spokesperson for Collin College in nearby McKinney, said via email
that a Joshua Jahn studied there “at various times” between 2013 and
2018.
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Law enforcement agents look around the roof of a building near the
scene of a shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
office in Dallas on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio
Cortez)
In late 2017, Jahn drove cross-country to work a minimum-wage job
harvesting marijuana for several months, said Ryan Sanderson, owner
of a legal cannabis farm in Washington state.
“He’s a young kid, a thousand miles from home, didn’t really seem to
have any direction, living out of his car at such a young age,”
Sanderson told the AP.
Calls for an end to political violence
Shortly after the shooting and before officials said at least one
victim was a detainee, Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “the
obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who represents Texas, continued in
that direction, calling for an end to political violence.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, an advocacy group, said the
shootings are “a heartbreaking reminder of the violence and fear
that too often touch the lives of migrants and the communities where
they live.”
Noem: ICE agents targeted
Noem noted a recent uptick in targeting of ICE agents.
On July 4, attackers in black, military-style clothing opened fire
outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of
Dallas, federal prosecutors said. One police officer was injured. At
least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.
Days later, a man with an assault rifle fired dozens of rounds at
federal agents leaving a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen. The
man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a responding police
officer before authorities shot and killed him.
In suburban Chicago, federal authorities erected a fence around an
immigration processing center after tensions flared with protesters.
President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up immigration
enforcement in the Chicago area, resulting in hundreds of arrests.
Attacks, escapes concern at some ICE offices
Dozens of field offices across the country house administrative
employees and are used for people summoned for check-in appointments
and to process people arrested before they are transferred to
long-term detention centers. They are not designed to hold people in
custody.
Security varies by location, with some in federal buildings and
others mixed with private businesses, said John Torres, a former
acting director of the agency and former head of what is now called
its enforcement and removals division.
Some, like Dallas, have exposed loading areas for buses, which pose
risks for escape and outside attack, Torres said. Other
vulnerabilities are nearby vantage points for snipers and long lines
forming outside without protection.
___
Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press journalists Sarah
Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New
Hampshire, Jeff Martin and R.J. Rico in Atlanta, Sophia Tareen in
Chicago, Mike Balsamo in New York, Alanna Durkin Richer in
Washington, Julio Cortez in Dallas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle
contributed.
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