In the early hours of September 24, 2025, the Dallas field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) became the scene of a deadly and meticulously planned attack. The shooter, identified by authorities as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn from Fairview, Texas, opened fire from a rooftop overlooking the facility, killing one detainee and critically wounding two others. As details have emerged, the incident has sent shockwaves through law enforcement and immigrant communities alike, raising urgent questions about motive, security, and the broader climate surrounding ICE operations.
According to the Associated Press, Jahn arrived in the area around 3 a.m., driving a vehicle with a large ladder strapped to the roof. Investigators believe he used the ladder to access a nearby building, positioning himself for a sniper-style assault. The gunfire erupted just after 6:30 a.m., with shots sprayed along the length of the ICE building, into its windows, and into a van holding detainees at the facility’s gated entryway. Authorities say Jahn fired indiscriminately, targeting vehicles carrying both ICE personnel and detainees, as well as the office building itself.
Despite the chaos, no ICE agents or law enforcement officers were injured—a fact that officials attribute in part to the rapid, courageous response of federal agents. “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,” FBI special agent Joe Rothrock told reporters, as cited by BBC News. The names of the victims have not been released, but Mexico’s foreign ministry confirmed that one of the wounded detainees is a Mexican national.
The weapon used in the attack was an 8 mm bolt-action rifle, which Jahn had legally purchased just a month before the shooting, according to Rothrock. In the aftermath, law enforcement recovered shell casings at the scene, including one engraved with the phrase “ANTI ICE.” FBI Director Kash Patel posted an image of the casing on social media, describing it as further evidence of the shooter’s intent.
Investigators searching Jahn’s home found a trove of handwritten notes, offering a chilling glimpse into his mindset and the degree of planning involved. “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP rounds on that roof?’” read one note, referencing armor-piercing bullets. Another note simply declared, “Yes, it was just me and my brain,” indicating, as acting U.S. attorney Nancy Larson explained, that Jahn “very likely acted alone.”
Authorities have been quick to characterize the shooting as a deliberate act of terrorism. “What he did is the very definition of terrorism,” Larson stated at a Thursday press conference, emphasizing that Jahn’s intent was to “maximize lethality against ICE personnel and to maximize property damage at the facility.” The notes recovered from his home were sharply critical of ICE agents, with Jahn describing their work as “human trafficking” and referring to employees as “people showing up to collect a dirty pay check.” Yet, he also expressed a desire to minimize harm to detainees and other bystanders, according to officials. “He hoped to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainees and any other innocent people,” Larson said, per BBC News.
Jahn’s digital footprint further underscores the calculated nature of the attack. According to FBI Director Patel, the suspect had downloaded a document titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management,” which contained a list of Department of Homeland Security facilities. In the days leading up to the shooting, he conducted multiple internet searches for ballistics information and the “Charlie Kirk Shot Video”—a reference to a high-profile assassination of a conservative activist earlier that month. Jahn also used apps designed to track ICE officers, raising concerns among law enforcement about the risks such tools pose to agents’ safety. “Those producing and distributing them are well aware of the dangers that they are exposing officers to,” ICE field office director Marcos Charles warned.
Despite the anti-government rhetoric found in Jahn’s notes, officials have found no evidence that he was affiliated with any extremist group or that he harbored animosity toward any federal agency other than ICE. “The clearest motivations at this point are the harm he wanted to cause to ICE,” Rothrock said, adding that investigators were not aware of any specific relationships Jahn had with detainees or ICE employees.
Jahn’s background offers few clues as to how he became radicalized. Childhood friends described him to ABC News as an avid gamer with little interest in politics, recalling a young man more focused on video games and internet culture than activism of any sort. “This is a complete shock to me,” one friend said. “Josh was the least political out of all the people I knew in high school. He liked playing video games.” Jahn’s brother, Noah, echoed this sentiment, telling NBC News that his sibling “wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew.” Jahn briefly attended the University of Texas – Dallas more than a decade ago and studied at Collin College between 2013 and 2018. He had also spent time working a minimum-wage job harvesting marijuana in Washington state in 2017, according to the Associated Press.
The attack comes at a time of heightened tension around ICE facilities nationwide. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded by ordering increased security at ICE offices across the country, citing a recent uptick in violence. In July 2025, attackers opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center southwest of Dallas, wounding a police officer; days later, a man with an assault rifle shot at federal agents leaving a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas. These incidents have fueled fears among ICE personnel and immigrant communities alike, as enforcement operations and deportations continue to be flashpoints in the national debate over immigration policy.
For many, the Dallas shooting is a grim reminder of the dangers faced by law enforcement and those in federal custody. “In contrast to those who would demonize our men and women, yesterday our brave officers ran back into danger,” Charles said, lauding the response of ICE and federal agents. As the investigation continues, officials say they are still piecing together the full picture of Jahn’s motivations and whether any warning signs were missed. For now, the tragedy stands as a stark illustration of how deep divisions over immigration and government authority can spill over into violence, with devastating consequences for all involved.
With the Dallas community still reeling, the story of Joshua Jahn’s attack on the ICE facility remains a sobering testament to the unpredictable—and sometimes deadly—intersection of ideology, alienation, and access to firearms.
