Homeland security personnel sit in their vehicles in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas hated the U.S. government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents, officials said Thursday, offering the first hint of a motive in the attack.
Citing handwritten notes found at his suburban home, authorities said 29-year-old Joshua Jahn set out to ambush the agency and then fatally shot himself following the assault.
The shooting at daybreak Wednesday targeted the ICE office building, including a van in a gated entryway that held detainees. One detainee was killed, and two others were critically wounded. No ICE personnel were hurt.
Jahn “specifically intended to kill ICE agents,” firing at vehicles carrying ICE personnel, federal agents and detainees. “He also fired multiple shots in the windows of the office building where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day,” said Joseph Rothrock, agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office.”
Jahn’s notes indicated “that he did not expect to survive this event,” Rothrock said. “He wanted to cause terror.”
The gunman, who authorities said fired indiscriminately from a nearby rooftop, was involved in a “high degree of pre-attack planning,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on the social platform X.
Patel quoted a note that said: “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?” The note used an apparent abbreviation for armor-piercing bullets.
The attack happened as heightened immigration enforcement has generated a backlash against ICE agents and stirred fear in immigrant communities across the country.
The assailant appeared to have acted alone. Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said investigators discovered the notes at Jahn’s residence. Another note said, “Yes, it was just me.” Other notes were sharply critical of ICE agents and indicated he hoped to avoid hurting any detainees.
Investigators have not found that the gunman was a member of any particular group or entity, Larson said. And while he broadly wrote about hatred of the federal government, he did not mention any federal agencies other than ICE, she said.
The gunman had also downloaded a document titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management” containing a list of Homeland Security facilities, Patel said.
Hours before the shooting, the assailant conducted multiple internet searches for ballistics information and video of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus this month, Patel said. Last month, the man searched for apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents, he added.
On Wednesday, Patel posted a photo on social media showing a bullet found at the scene with “ANTI-ICE” written on it. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered more security at ICE facilities across the U.S., according to a post by the DHS on X.
Shooter arrived before dawn with a ladder
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.
Jahn was seen driving into the area about 3 a.m. with a large ladder on top of his vehicle, Larson said. The ladder is believed to have been used to climb to the roof of a nearby building.
The gunfire started around 6:30 a.m., Larson said. Shots were sprayed along the length of the ICE facility, into the windows and into the van, she said.
Jahn legally obtained the bolt-action rifle used in the shooting in August, Rothrock said.
He “also acknowledged the potential for other casualties,” Rothrock said. “He knew with a high likelihood ICE detainees would be transported that morning in the exact location where he was facing from his perch” atop the roof.
Following ICE procedures, the detainees were restrained inside the van, said Marcos Charles, field office director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE.
“Under gunfire, multiple federal agents ran into that fire to remove these individuals and to attempt to render lifesaving aid under the most dire circumstances,” Rothrock said.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims.
Who was the gunman?
Noah Jahn described his brother as “unique” and told NBC News that the anti-ICE messages were surprising.
“He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew,” Noah Jahn said. “He wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew.”
He said the two grew up about 30 miles away in Allen, Texas, and that his brother took an interest in coding but was unemployed. Noah Jahn said he last saw his brother two weeks ago at their parents’ house and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
A spokesperson for Collin College in nearby McKinney, said via email that a Joshua Jahn studied there “at various times” between 2013 and 2018.
In late 2017, Jahn drove cross-country to work a minimum-wage job harvesting marijuana for several months, said Ryan Sanderson, owner of a legal cannabis farm in Washington state.
ICE has been targeted elsewhere
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 wounded. 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 Border Patrol facility in McAllen. The man, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, injured a responding police officer before authorities shot and killed him.