Of the three detainees shot by a sniper, DHS officials say one of them died. The shooter ended his own life.
SAN ANTONIO — Religious leaders and immigrant rights groups are speaking out after the shooting outside a Dallas ICE facility Wednesday morning.
“It’s a terrible tragedy. We grieve any violence that happens obviously in our community,” said Dianne Garcia, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio.
The League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) denounced the incident in a string of statements from organization officials.
Texas LULAC State Director Gabriel Rosales said, “This tragedy shows what happens when anger overtakes reason. No family should suffer such pain.”
LULAC National President Roman Palomares said in part “We grieve with the families of the victims and urge Americans to lower the temperature in our public discourse.”
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicated a sniper indiscriminately fired at an ICE field office, including at a van, impacted three detainees. One of the detainees was killed while the other two remain in critical condition.
Federal officials say the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI director posted a picture on X of the words “anti-ICE” written on shell casings.
Garcia’s church serves as a refuge for migrants from around the world. With the Trump administration’s ramped up ICE activity, her members have felt increased worry about being arrested and deported. Garcia said the latest shooting in Dallas involving ICE detainees has only amplified worry and concern.
“I think what we’re seeing with the deaths in the detention center, with the deaths at the facility this morning is the product of the dehumanization in general in our community,” Garcia said. “Many of the members of my community say they feel like they’re being treated like animals. They feel like they’re being hunted.”
KENS 5 reached out to local DHS officials for comment on any increased security measures in response to the Dallas shooting. While the request for a statement was acknowledged, no follow up statement was provided.
There were no obvious signs of enhanced law enforcement presence at the ICE check-in facility on San Antonio’s northeast side or immigration court downtown.
While the investigation continues into the Dallas ICE shooting, Garcia is praying for peace.
“I pray that there would be ways to make connections with one another and to open lines of communication and listening and to have people be seen as whole people,” she said.