By Kate Scanlon, OSV News
One detainee was killed and two others were in serious condition after a shooting Sept. 24 at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, the Department of Homeland Security said.
A department spokesperson previously told CNN two detainees were killed, but officials issued an updated statement in the late afternoon.
The suspected gunman died of a self-inflicted wound, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X.
Catholic immigration advocates called for prayer in response.
The exact motivation of the attack was still under investigation, officials said.
Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock, the head of the Dallas FBI field office, told reporters at a Sept. 24 media briefing that rounds recovered by investigators near the shooter were marked with messages that were “anti-ICE in nature.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post that the shooting was ideological, sharing an image of an unspent shell casing with the words “ANTI ICE” that he said was recovered at the scene.
Rothrock also said the bureau is investigating the incident as “an act of targeted violence.” But, he said, no members of law enforcement were among the injured, and DHS officials said the shooter “fired indiscriminately.”
Authorities have not yet publicly identified the victims. But they named the suspected shooter as Joshua Jahn, 29, according to multiple media reports.
Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, also known as CLINIC, said in a statement, “This tragedy is another reminder that our immigration system must be grounded in human dignity, safety, and respect.”
“We pray for all those whose lives have been forever altered by today’s events, and we recommit ourselves to the Gospel call to welcome the stranger and to protect life,” Gallagher said. “Violence must never be allowed to define how we respond to migration. Instead, we are called to solidarity, compassion, justice, and welcome.”
