Suspect Who Attacked ICE Facility Wanted to Give Agents ‘Terror,’ FBI Director Says

FBI Director Kash Patel on Sept. 25 provided more details on the suspect involved in a shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas that left at least one person dead the day before.

Officials said the shooter, identified on Sept. 25 as Joshua Jahn, fired shots from a rooftop toward the Dallas ICE facility, killing a detainee and injuring two others. The suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said on Sept. 24.

In a post on X, Patel disclosed a handwritten note allegedly written by the suspect.

“Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'” the note reads, referring to armor-piercing rounds.

Jahn, 29, downloaded a document titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management,” which contains a list of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facilities, Patel said. Between Sept. 23 and Sept. 24, Jahn also carried out multiple searches for ballistics and “Charlie Kirk Shot Video,” a reference to the assassination of the conservative influencer on Sept. 10.

He also allegedly searched apps that tracked the location of ICE agents, the FBI director said. Patel did not mention the suspect’s name in his post.

“Further accumulated evidence to this point indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” he wrote, noting that the bureau has worked to seize devices and process writings allegedly left by Jahn.

At a Sept. 25 news conference, officials said the suspect acted alone and did not appear to be a member of any group. Authorities called on the public to provide any details about the suspect or the incident.

After the shooting, Patel posted a photo that appeared to show rifle-caliber ammunition affixed to a metal clip. One of the unspent shell casings bore the message “anti-ICE,” Patel wrote.

A DHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times on Sept. 25 that the agency will boost security around ICE buildings in response to the attack.

The FBI on Sept. 24 described the shooting as a “targeted attack” that the agency, in part, blamed on heightened rhetoric against ICE agents.

“The men and women of ICE are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer.

“Like everyone else, we just want to go home to our families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop. We are praying for the victims and their families.”

The attack was the latest high-profile targeted killing in the United States. It happened two weeks after Kirk was killed by a shooter on the roof of a building at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, amid heightened immigration enforcement and a backlash against ICE operations in certain communities.

On July 4, attackers in black, military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, southwest of Dallas, federal prosecutors said. One police officer was wounded. At least 11 people have been charged in connection with the attack.

Days later, a man fired dozens of rounds at federal agents as they left a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a responding police officer before authorities shot and killed him.

The incidents come as the Trump administration has vowed to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants from the United States. This effort has included executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, ending protected statuses of nationals of certain countries, and declaring a national emergency at the U.S.–Mexico border this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.