Benjamin Song, 32, is wanted by the FBI in connection with an attack on the Fourth of July outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado.
ALVARADO, Texas — The suspect wanted in connection to what authorities describe as a “targeted and coordinated” assault on law enforcement outside a federal immigration detention center previously faced accusations of attacking law enforcement during a 2020 protest in Austin, court records showed.
A grand jury later declined to indict Benjamin Song, 32, on charges he assaulted two officers after he pointed his rifle at them causing them to “fear for their lives,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Now Song is at the center of a statewide manhunt as one of a dozen people charged in connection with a Fourth of July shooting outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado.
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge of the Dallas Field Office Joe Rothrock said agents have been working around the clock for nearly a week to locate Song, who he said spent nearly a day hiding in the brush near the facility following the attack.
“He has military training and based on what we’ve seen in the criminal complaint, he’s demonstrated a propensity for violence,” Rothrock said, “From our perspective, he poses a significant risk to the community and to law enforcement.”
Court documents allege the suspects lured an Alvarado police officer to the ambush by shooting fireworks toward the detention center and vandalizing cars in the parking lot.
Within seconds of the Alvarado officer’s arrival, the federal complaint said he was shot in the neck, and the gunman then fired 20-30 rounds at two correctional officers who were also outside the building. He was able to return fire and radio to say he had been hit, according to an affidavit obtained by WFAA.
Alvarado Police Chief Teddy May told WFAA on Thursday that the unnamed officer is recovering, but “lucky to be alive.”
The suspects wore body armor, carried radios, spray-painted cars, and had an anti-fascism flag, according to an arrest affidavit.
Subsequent searches of their cars and homes found balaclava masks, more guns and “anti-government propaganda,” the document revealed.
Four of the guns recovered from the scene were purchased by Song — one just 10 days before the attack, Rothrock said.
On Friday, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve confirmed Song served for nearly five years, with a specialization as a supply administration and operations clerk. He received an other-than-honorable discharge in 2016, court documents said. At the time, his rank was Lance Corporal, according to the Marines.
In 2023, Song faced a civil lawsuit alleging he was part of a group of armed counter-protesters who attacked a group of people gathering in opposition to a drag brunch in Fort Worth.
Court records showed Song denied he was at the incident, and the group later dropped him from its lawsuit.