1 detainee killed and 2 others critically injured in Dallas ICE
facility, Homeland Security says
[September 25, 2025]
By JAMIE STENGLE and JACK BROOK
DALLAS (AP) — A shooter with a rifle opened fire from a nearby roof onto
a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement location in Dallas on
Wednesday, killing one detainee and wounding two others in a transport
van before taking his own life, authorities said.
The suspect was identified by a law enforcement official as 29-year-old
Joshua Jahn. The official could not publicly disclose details of the
investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity.
The exact motivation for the attack was not immediately known. FBI
Director Kash Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet
found at the scene with “ANTI-ICE” written on it.
The attack is the latest public, targeted killing in the U.S., coming
two weeks after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed by a
rifle-wielding shooter 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.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that shots were
fired “indiscriminately at the ICE building, including at a van in the
sallyport,” a secure and gated entryway.
The wounded detainees were in critical condition at a hospital, said
DHS, which previously said two detainees were killed and one was wounded
before issuing a correction.
No ICE agents were injured.
By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more
security at ICE facilities across the U.S., according to a post by DHS
on the social platform X.
‘Targeted violence’
At a midday news conference, authorities gave few details about the
shooting and did not release the names of the victims or the gunman.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted
violence.”
Officers responded to a call to assist an officer on North Stemmons
Freeway around 6:40 a.m. and determined that someone had opened fire at
a government building from an adjacent building, Dallas police
spokesperson Officer Jonathan E. Maner said via email.
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. Thank God,
no,” Cardona said.
Cardona said 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, but 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.
Martyna Kowalczyk, CEO of Texas-based Solartime USA, said in a statement
that Jahn worked for her company for less than a few months “many years
ago.”
In late 2017, Jahn drove cross-country to work a minimum-wage job
harvesting marijuana for several months, according to 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 AP. “I don’t remember him being that abnormal. He didn’t
seem to fight with anyone or cause trouble. He kept his head down and
stayed working.”
Sanderson said he tried to keep Jahn longer because he “felt bad for
him.”
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A law enforcement agents search a vehicle 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)
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.
“To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and
demonizing CBP: Stop,” Cruz told reporters, referencing Customs and
Border Protection.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the shooting not just an attack on
law enforcement and the victims but “an attack on our community and
on our nation’s heritage of civil and democratic discourse.”
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.”
“Violence must never be allowed to define how we respond to
migration,” said Anna Gallagher, the group’s executive director.
The Rev. Ashley Anne Sipe, who prays outside the Dallas ICE facility
every Monday said: “Violence doesn’t heal anything."
Sipe and other local faith leaders who have decried deportations
hold weekly vigils and serve as “moral witnesses.” They pray and
observe for about three hours, watching as immigrants enter the
building to meet with advisers and report for check-ins.
Sipe said she has noticed in recent months that people who enter are
shuttled away on buses.
“They’re taking them away, and we don’t know where they’re taking
them,” Sipe said.
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 police officer who
responded to the scene before authorities shot and killed him.
And 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.
Ahead of the latest immigration operation, federal officials boarded
up windows at the center. Sixteen people have been arrested outside,
according to authorities who called the activists “rioters.”
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 located 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.
“I would assure you that ICE, after today, is going to be a taking a
hard look at physical security assessments for all of their
facilities,” said Torres, currently head of security and technology
consulting at Guidepost Solutions.
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