Dallas, Texas Under Siege as Snipers shoot and kill 5 Police Officers, Wound 6 Other Officers and 1 Civilian during Anti-Violence Protest 

By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016

Downtown Dallas, Texas became under siege at approximately 8:45 P.M. on Thursday, July 7, 2016, as two heavily-armed snipers opened fire with AR-15 semi-automatic rifles against Dallas Police Officers during the end of a peaceful Anti-Violence Protest, killing five Police Officers, wounding 6 other Officers and one civilian.

A peaceful Anti-Violence Protest was being held in downtown Dallas to protest the shooting and killing of two African-American men earlier in the week, Philando Castile in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Lousiana by white Police Officers caught on video tape.  Just as the protest was about to finish, the first sniper shots rang out in downtown Dallas, striking Dallas Police Officers.

Threes suspects have been arrested while a fourth suspect remains active in a parking garage in downtown Dallas.

Dallas Police Department SWAT Team negotiators are negotiating with a cornered suspect in a parking garage in downtown Dallas and the suspect has told the negotiators that bombs have been planted throughout downtown and the City of Dallas, intend to hurt more Police Officers, and “the end is near.”

Dallas Police Chief David Brown stated downtown Dallas is an active crime scene and requested citizens to stay away from downtown Dallas.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings stated it is sad to see Police Officers shot and killed while in the line of duty and calls upon all citizens to come together.

Earlier during the day of July 7th before the Dallas siege, President Barack Obama addressed the nation concerning the shooting and killing of citizens by Police Officers in the United States, particularly people of color, and urged Americans to unite and to tackle this issue.  President Obama stated that these Police Officer shootings of citizens are not isolated incidents, but rather a “symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.”