Confirmed: Dallas ICE shooting suspect had promised federal officers ‘real terror’
Law enforcement investigators digging into the shooting at a Dallas ICE facility this week, allegedly by the now-dead Joshua Jahn, 29, say he had threatened federal officers with “real terror,” had an affinity for video games and specifically was targeting law enforcement when he killed and injured detainees.
Handwritten notes found after the suspect’s death revealed he, at one point, threatened, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘Is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?'”
Reports also confirm he had spent thousands of hours, a total of about 17,500, playing video games.
And he searched for details on “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management” and watched the “Charlie Kirk Shot Video.”
Jahn was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound after three detainees were gunned down at the facility used by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No officers were injured, but authorities say that’s who Jahn allegedly was aiming at.
A report in Time said he had been firing “indiscriminately” at officers when he hit the detainees.
“While authorities have yet to state an official motive, they also said that they found bullets inscribed with the words ‘ANTI-ICE’ near Jahn’s body, prompting President Donald Trump and administration officials to call the shooting an attack on the institution over his hardline immigration agenda,” the report said.
FBI says the Dallas ICE facility shooting was months in the making. Officials confirmed 29-year-old Joshua Jahn planned the attack, using ICE tracking apps and targeting agents. One detainee was killed and two others injured as law enforcement rushed others to safety.
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— One America News (@OANN) September 26, 2025
It describes a suspect who had two siblings and lived with his parents as recently as a few months ago.
Online resources said his father retired in 2020 after 36 years working at an elevator firm.
“Speaking to a local NBC News outlet, Jahn’s brother Noah said he and Joshua were Boy Scouts who grew up in Allen, a northern Texas suburb. Jahn was unemployed but had taken an interest in coding, his brother added,” the report said.
Authorities have searched two homes, one in Fairview, Texas, and another in Durant, Oklahoma.
Anti-ICE gunman Joshua Jahn spent 17,500 hours playing violent videos games — including right before shooting https://t.co/vl7XaGUey4 pic.twitter.com/rZqL2Qvy4t
— New York Post (@nypost) September 25, 2025
The suspect apparently had attended some college classes years ago, and had worked for a time with a solar energy company.
A report from a Fox affiliate said evidence found after Jahn’s death showed a “high degree of pre-attack planning.”
FBI agent Joseph Rothrock said, “Jahn specifically intended to kill ICE agents. He fired at transport vehicles carrying ICE personnel, federal agents, and detainees. He also fired multiple shots into the windows of the office building, where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day.”
“He wrote that he intended to maximize his lethality against ICE personnel and to maximize property damage at the facility. He hoped to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainee and any other innocent people,” said Nancy Larson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. “He also hoped his actions would give ICE agents real terror of being gunned down.”
The shooting suspect apparently hauled a ladder atop his car to the scene where he accessed a building roof to carry out his shooting.
Larson added, “I want to address the heroism of our federal agents. Yesterday, while under fire, ICE agents and ATF agents who were also present in the facility, the sally port Area worked together to remove detainees from the vans and get them to safety while the bullets were flying. These agents were heroic, clearly willing to lay down their lives to save the lives of the detainees in their custody. And that’s an extremely important point to make at this point in time. I want to express my deepest appreciation for the bravery of these law enforcement officers yesterday and every single day that they go out there to keep us safe.”
BREAKING: The FBI just got the GOODS on the ICE SNIPER
Agents TORE UP his BEDROOM… and they found SECRET NOTES
Democrats say ICE had it COMING… but they’re TRACKING & DOXXING AGENTS, and letting their HOUNDS LOOSE pic.twitter.com/P6QHTPLPAb
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) September 26, 2025
New security video shows federal officers and detainees scrambling to escape gunfire at the Dallas ICE facility Wednesday morning.
One detainee was killed. Two others were critically injured. The suspect, 29yo Joshua Jahn, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/9pLUQHkR8K
— Peyton Yager (@peytonyager) September 26, 2025