#Dallas LIVE: 'Horrified' Obama stands by cops, condemns 'despicable' attacks

Watch: Barack Obama condemns Dallas shootings

Dallas shootings are “wrenching reminder” of sacrifices police make, says Barack Obama.

Dallas shootings are "wrenching reminder" of sacrifices police make, Barack Obama says https://t.co/HC1DO4E2zy https://t.co/nQmzrDsG6w

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 8, 2016

President Obama addresses shootings in Dallas protest from Warsaw, Poland. 

President Obama addressing shootings in Dallas protest from Warsaw, Poland. Watch CNN. https://t.co/HAhU3MmiMf pic.twitter.com/jJsBbZtuWV

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 8, 2016

The latest updates in Dallas shooting

5 police officers are dead, several wounded
Suspect involved in standoff now dead
3 alleged suspects are in custody
One suspect told police “the end is coming”
He claimed bombs are planted all over downtown Dallas
2 shooters were snipers, who shot from “elevated position”

After reports said that suspect shot himself, Dallas Police Department released this official statement on Facebook which said that the police have “no suspects are in custody at this time.”

This is full statement:

Tonight it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally. Three officers are deceased, two are in surgery and three are in critical condition.

An intensive search for suspects is currently underway. No suspects are in custody at this time. We ask that any citizen with information regarding the shootings tonight call 214-671-3485.

We will provide more information once it is available. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tonight.

Dallas Police officers have been photographed outside the Parkland Hospital in Dallas, saluting their fellow officers who were killed in the attacks

Dallas Police officers standing outside Parkland Hospital, saluting their fallen brethren. pic.twitter.com/kSDo2VzBWl

— Mike Leslie (@MikeLeslieWFAA) July 8, 2016

A senior Dallas police officer, Major Max Geron, says extensive sweeps for bombs are being conducted across the city. Earlier police said the suspect hold up at the El Centro car park, since reported dead, claimed bombs had been left “all over the place”.

There are extensive sweeps of downtown for explosives underway. This will take quite a while. #dallasshooting

— Chief Max Geron (@ChiefGeron) July 8, 2016

Officers salute in honor line outside Parkland Hospital as bodies are loaded into medical examiner's vans. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/g4JTPu0Uoy

— ScottGordon (@ScottGordonDFW) July 8, 2016

NEW: A #Dallas PD detective confirms to me shooting suspect is "dead." Also, 2 "suspicious devices" have been found pic.twitter.com/8ylwVQZtA5

— Ben Russell (@BenRussellNBC5) July 8, 2016

First name released of officer killed. @NBCDFW #NBCDFWNow https://t.co/vLHxtvYWDW

— ScottGordon (@ScottGordonDFW) July 8, 2016

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) has released the names of three of its injured officers who are all expected to recover. They are: Omar Cannon (44), Misty McBride (32) and Jesus Retana (39). Earlier Dart confirmed that one of its officers Brent Thompson, 43, was one of the five people killed in the attack.

Injured @dartmedia officers identified as Omar Cannon, 44; Misty McBride, 32; Jesus Retana, 39. All 3 expected to survive.

— Brandon Formby 📝 (@brandonformby) July 8, 2016

Latest reports, however, said that the suspect shot himself. Firstpost, however, could not independently verify the report. 

According to The Dallas Morning News the fourth suspect in the El Centro College garage is reported dead.

#Breaking Remaining gunman in the El Centro College garage reported dead https://t.co/XAQI3hpba6 pic.twitter.com/uYAmLZgVv9

— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) July 8, 2016

In one of the worst mass police shootings in US history, Dallas police were in a standoff with a suspect on Friday after snipers killed five officers and wounded six during protests against the killing of two black men by police this week. Police had taken three people into custody after the ambush shooting on Thursday night that police described as carefully planned and executed. 

Reuters quoted local media and said that the suspect is dead.

Police were in a standoff that has extended into Friday morning with another suspect in a downtown garage, where gunfire had been exchanged, officials said.

White House officials have spoken with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings about the shooting that turned the downtown of one of the largest U.S. cities into a sprawling crime scene and unfolded along streets that house major corporations, restaurants and courthouses.

Suspect dead

BREAKING: Suspect involved in standoff with #Dallas police is dead according to local media https://t.co/HSQEpDl31N pic.twitter.com/wAbJqkqTXG

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 8, 2016

Fifth police officer dies in Dallas shooting

#BREAKING Fifth police officer dies in Dallas shooting: official

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 8, 2016

Suspect claims he has planted bombs

Dallas police exchanged gunfire with a suspect in a deadly shooting that has killed four officers who warned negotiators there were “bombs all over the place” in downtown Texas, officials said.

“The suspect that we are negotiating with that has exchanged gunfire with us over the last 45 minutes has 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,” Police Chief David Brown told reporters.

“So we are being very careful in our tactics so we don’t injure our citizens in Dallas as we negotiate further.”

what's happening currently in #Dallas is the lowest of blows. i'm just blown away at the notion of who could do this.

— catturd2.bsky.social (@thetomzone) July 8, 2016

Suspect not cooperating

The suspect is not cooperating and has told negotiators he intends to hurt more law enforcement officials, the chief said.

LIVE on #Periscope https://t.co/289YMzxBd9

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

Watch: Vigil held for Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by police at a traffic stop

RAW VIDEO: St. Paul, Minn., holds vigil for Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by police during traffic stop. https://t.co/8HyeAbvYEO

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2016

Three people are in custody

Dallas Police Chief David Brown says three people are in custody after snipers opened fire on police officers during protests and says a fourth person is exchanging gunfire with officers. Brown said at an early Friday morning news conference that authorities are negotiating with a suspect in a downtown parking garage who has been exchanging gunfire with officials.

The chief says the suspect is not cooperating and has told negotiators he intends to hurt more law enforcement officials. The shooting attack killed four officers and injured seven others. It came amid protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.

Associated Press

Dallas police say they are questioning two occupants of a vehicle after an officer saw a person throw a bag into the back of the vehicle and speed off.

Police said late Thursday night that an officer spotted someone carrying a camouflage bag and quickly walking down the street. The person then threw the bag into the back of a black Mercedes and sped off at a high rate of speed.

Police say officers followed the vehicle southbound on Interstate 35 to a point south of Dallas where they performed a traffic stop. Police then began questioning both occupants of the vehicle.

Television footage showed many police cars surrounding a vehicle stopped on Interstate 35.

Watch video where snipers shoot at Dallas police officers

RAW VIDEO: Snipers open fire on police during Dallas protest. https://t.co/nKtkPA9hBc

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2016

Associated Press reports

BREAKING: Police chief says 3 people in custody in Dallas shootings; 4th person exchanging gunfire with officers.

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2016

Bomb squad was checking out a suspicious package discovered after the shootout, police said.

Talking to reporters late on Thursday , Brown said police were circulating a photo of a “person of interest” in the case who appeared to be openly carrying a rifle during the march. That person turned himself in, according to a later tweet by the department.

Another person was taken into custody after a shootout. The bomb squad was checking out a suspicious package discovered after the shootout, police said.

Brown said Dallas police had contacted the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “to help us search for both these suspects — or maybe it’s more — and to do a very thorough search of this area where we believe there might be a bomb planted.”

#BREAKING: Dallas suspects claim to have planted bombs: police chief

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 8, 2016

All motives on the table, says Dallas PD chief David Brown

“We are leaving every motive on the table, we are breaking for the suspects to break. we have been monitoring social media and we are trying to ascertain whether there is any complicity on our part.” 

“There’s lot of things on social media, we are pursuing anything that has any connection with the case.”

Dallas police department chief David Brown: 

“Suspect claims to have planted a bomb at the crime scene. It still is an active crime scene.”

US aviation authorities restrict flights over Dallas after deadly shooting

#BREAKING: US aviation authorities restrict flights over Dallas after deadly shooting

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 8, 2016

Dallas Police Department addresses media

LIVE on #Periscope https://t.co/289YMzxBd9

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

Killing of two black men sparks gun control debate

Although the victims in both the Minnesota and Louisiana cases had guns in their possession, there is no indication they pointed their weapons at police. On Tuesday in Louisiana, Sterling was pinned to the ground and shot multiple times at point blank range.

Baton Rouge police said they had responded after an anonymous caller reported being threatened by a man with a gun. Sterling’s family lawyer said he was merely selling CDs outside a convenience store. A GoFundMe campaign has so far raised more than $500,000 for Sterling’s children.

Castile was the second black man in two days fatally shot by US police. They are the latest in a string of similar cases that have fueled outrage across the United States, from city streets to the White House.

Many diff. hostile actors on the scene. Prayers out to all the men & women on thin blue line #dallas #dallasambush https://t.co/d1sFdCBGkC

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 8, 2016

Sad what happened in #Dallas
This is what happens when you generalize a group on actions of a few Innocent people are killed#DallasPolice

— Karim Jovian (@KJovian) July 8, 2016

A best-selling author and radio talk-show host Larry Elder tweeted:

The protesters chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot." Didn't get the memo. Brown DID NOT say, "Hands up, don't shoot." Obama didn't help.#Dallas

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 8, 2016

Frontpage of Dallas Morning News

The front page of Friday's Dallas Morning News following Thursday's shootings downtown. pic.twitter.com/ExIlxEMA9V

— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) July 8, 2016

Watch: Witness records sniper shooting cops in Dallas

Witness Ismael Dejesus joins @donlemon to share the video he captured of the #Dallas shooting https://t.co/oBmEIv09rk

— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2016

Dallas morning news tweeted

Compiling witness videos, reports of chaos in Dallas #DallasShooting #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/PsEMWVxMKj pic.twitter.com/F5onNCNobH

— Liz Farmer (@liz_farmer) July 8, 2016

People stranded at downtown Dallas bus station while police search for suspected shooter. "We just want to go home."

— Marc Ramirez (@typewriterninja) July 8, 2016

Associated Press reported: 

The search for the shooters stretched throughout downtown, an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments. The scene was chaotic, with helicopters hovering overhead and officers with automatic rifles on the street corners.

“Everyone just started running,” Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News. “We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there.”

Carlos Harris, who lives downtown told the newspaper that the shooters “were strategic. It was tap tap pause. Tap tap pause.”

Demonstrator Brittaney Peete told The Associated Press that she didn’t hear the gunshots, but she “saw people rushing back toward me saying there was an active shooter.”

Peete said she saw a woman trip and nearly get trampled.

‘Racism exists’

In Minnesota, a visibly upset Governor Mark Dayton said Thursday there was “every indication” that police conduct in the Castile case was “way in excess” of what the situation warranted, and that race may have played a role.

“I can’t say how shocked I am and how deeply, deeply offended that this would occur in Minnesota to somebody who got pulled over for a tail light being out of order,” he told reporters, calling the situation “absolutely appalling.”

US President Barack Obama, America’s first black president, said it was clear the shootings were not “isolated incidents.”

“They are symptomatic of the broader challenges within our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year, and the resulting lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too many of the communities they serve,” he said in a statement on Facebook.

Obama made an emotional appeal for urgent police reform after the fatal shootings of two black men by police, as protests over the deaths erupted Thursday in major cities across the country.

The deaths this week of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota — both caught on video — are once again fuelling a debate about police use of lethal force, especially against African-Americans.

According to local media, Dallas police said all suspects have been arrested.Police say “danger is over.”

BREAKING: All #Dallas suspects in custody, police say danger is over https://t.co/92dZ7aKR6E pic.twitter.com/S8QxpFJIFh

— RT America (@RT_America) July 8, 2016

Houston mayor reacts to #Dallas shooting --> https://t.co/XIGIHufMwr

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) July 8, 2016

A bystander, meanwhile, tweeted

Meanwhile, Dallas police department tweeted: 

Update: pic.twitter.com/ukWSZJeZo3

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

CNN reports

"Oh my god...there's people laying on the ground." Video via @allisongriz features audio of multiple gunshots https://t.co/jUJP7O98xK

— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2016

Brother of the alleged suspect says “you got the wrong man”

Brother of man pictured as person of interest says they got it WRONG! Says his brother's gun wasn't loaded. #dallas pic.twitter.com/iDtu4cYZDF

— Annette Peagler (@Annette_Peagler) July 8, 2016

Texas Governor released his statement on the shootings

Texas Governor Greg Abbott released a statement saying he has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety director to offer “whatever assistance the City of Dallas needs at this time.”

“In times like this we must remember — and emphasize — the importance of uniting as Americans,” Abbott said.

My statement on tonight's shooting in #Dallas. pic.twitter.com/oXoAJOUCoF

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 8, 2016

Killing that propelled Dallas protests

Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds, the woman who live-streamed the aftermath of a fatal police shooting in which her boyfriend, Philando Castile, was killed, said on Thursday that she recorded the incident because she wanted “everybody in the world to see what the police do and how they roll.”

Watch the video here

Beyoncé reacts to killing of 2 black men, which snowballed into the violent Thursday protests

Dallas police say a suspect in shooting of officers at Dallas protests is in custody and a person of interest has surrendered.

According to latest reports, the suspected shooter, who allegedly “turned himself in”, was not anywhere near the shooting area. 

According to reports, Twitterati claimed that the suspect was among the crowd and not on the roof where the shootings took place. 

Crowd of people telling #Dallas Ch. 5 'person of interest' was with them, not involved in shooting. 'Mark Hughes is not a suspect'

— mark seibel (@markseibel) July 8, 2016

#Dallas 'sniper' mess is staged. Non-sense. Unarmed Blacks have been killed instantly, yet 'suspect' walking with an AR-15 peacefully?

— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) July 8, 2016

Snipers shot from an elevated position

Scores of police and security officers were on hand. Police and others hunched behind cars outside a parking garage. Officers with guns drawn were running near and into the parking garage as police searched for the shooter.

TV cameras showed the search for the gunman stretched throughout downtown, an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments. The scene was chaotic, with helicopters hovering overhead and officers with automatic rifles on the street corners.

This isn't the answer 🙏🏾Pray for #Dallas right now. The suspect is still on the loose. Lord help… https://t.co/8sBDJfWUDb

— DeVon Franklin (@DeVonFranklin) July 8, 2016

Actress Patricia Arquette tweeted:

Peaceful protest initially, quickly escalated to violent killings

Dallas police say four officers have died after at least two snipers opened fire during protests downtown. Seven other officers were wounded. TV reports said that the protests started off really peaceful but escalated to violence really quick. Police Chief David O Brown said police have a suspect cornered in a garage and are negotiating with that person. He says the snipers fired upon officers “ambush style.”

Brown had said three officers were killed, and police issued a tweet later saying a fourth officer had died. Brown says snipers shot from “elevated positions” during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings.

Dallas police department confirmed the death of the fourth police officer

“With heavy hearts, we are devastated  to report a fourth officer has been killed.”

Update: pic.twitter.com/qBJe3q0EtN

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

With heavy hearts, we are devastated to report a fourth officer has been killed.

— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

Death toll rises to 4

Death toll in Dallas shooting rises to four. No suspects in custody till now. However, police department said manhunt is underway.

Dallas police say suspects have threatened to plant a bomb in the city, FBI and ATS have been asked to help in investigation

UPDATE: Dallas police say suspects have threatened to plant a bomb in the city, FBI and ATS have been asked to help in investigation

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2016

Dallas police dept releases photo of suspect

The gunfire broke out around 8:45 pm (local time) on Thursday while hundreds of people were gathered to protest fatal police shootings this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St Paul, Minnesota.

Brown’s statement said three officers were dead, two were in surgery and thee were in in critical condition.

“An intensive search” for suspects was underway, it said. No one was in custody.

The Dallas police department releases a photograph of the suspect on their twitter handle:

CNN reports

3 police officers were killed and 7 others wounded in #Dallas, the city's police chief says https://t.co/anzgOUsboA https://t.co/FaSSQXqojQ

— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2016

Crowd on the run in downtown Dallas

#breaking Crowd on the run downtown Dallas. Reports of an officer shot at the protest march. pic.twitter.com/zstZnDIRlm

— Doug Dunbar (@cbs11doug) July 8, 2016

BREAKING: Reports of shots fired during protests in Dallas over recent shootings by police https://t.co/qp7lHFnNai https://t.co/U785WqeeJp

— CNN (@CNN) July 8, 2016

BREAKING: Dallas police chief: 2 snipers shot 11 police officers during protests; 3 officers are dead.

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2016

Dallas police chief says 2 apparent snipers shot 10 officers during protests; 3 killed, 3 in critical condition. https://t.co/bsrWTeonaP

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2016

Protests against Dallas killing turns violent

Multiple media outlets report that shots were fired Thursday night during a Dallas protest over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. The gunfire broke out around 8:45 pm on Thursday. Live TV video showed protesters marching along a street in downtown, about half a mile from City Hall, when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.

3 officers shot dead by ‘snipers’

Two snipers opened fire on police officers during protests in Dallas on Thursday night, killing three officers and injuring seven others, the police chief said. A statement from Dallas Police Chief David Brown released by a city spokeswoman said “it appears that two snipers shot ten police officers from elevated positions during the protest/rally.”