Dallas police shooting: Rooftop video shows gunman moments before shooting police officer in the back
Five police officers have been killed and seven injured
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A video has emerged which appears to show the moment a suspect in the Dallas shootings open fire on police during the shootout at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, in which at least five officers were killed on Thursday evening.
The footage, taken from high above the ground, shows a person in light clothing taking cover between pillars and firing a rifle, before another individual in dark clothes, presumed to be a police officer, approaches armed with a handgun.
The first gunman can be seen moving round the other side of the pillar and, in graphic footage we have chosen not to show, appears to shoot the officer from behind. The gunman then runs away as shots fired from off-screen cause sparks near the two pair.
A witness to the incident, Ismael Dejesus, who was in an overlooking hotel room, told CNN: “Man had a rifle, AR-15, clear as day. Pretty big magazine. You can see towards the end of the video here that he goes ahead and drops a few mags.
“It did look planned. He knew where to stand. He had ammo ready.”
“It looked like an execution honestly. He stood over [the officer] after he was already down and shot him maybe three to four times in the back. It was very disturbing to watch.”
He added: “This is nothing less than a terrorist attack. That's my personal opinion.”
There is no official confirmation the victim in the shooting is a police officer, however no fatalities to civilians have been reported.
Five police officers have died and seven have been injured in an attack by several gunmen during protests in Dallas which called for justice after police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota this week.
Dallas police chief David Brown said four snipers armed with rifles were involved in the shootings.
Mr Brown said one gunman who was taking coverage in a garage “told our negotiators that the end is coming and he is going to hurt and kill more of us, meaning law enforcement, and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown”.
That gunman is now reported to have shot himself after a standoff with police.
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