A sniper perched on a Dallas rooftop opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Wednesday morning, killing at least two detainees and injuring others before committing suicide.

Joshua Jahn, a 29-year-old whose family was from nearby suburb Fairview in Collin County, used his rifle to fire multiple shots at the facility from an adjacent building. Three people sustained gunshot injuries, with two transported to an area hospital and one killed at the scene, according to reports from Fox4 Dallas-Fort Worth.

All three victims were ICE detainees but it was not immediately clear if they were the intended targets. Jahn opened fire without targeting specific individuals at the ICE facility and at a transport vehicle in the secure entrance area where the shooting occurred. The three detainees were inside an unmarked van when the gunfire struck them, according to a report from Fox News. 

Authorities reported that Jahn died by suicide approximately 7 a.m., and his body was discovered on a nearby rooftop alongside his weapon.

Investigators suggested at a press conference that the shooter may have intended to target agents.

“I can confirm at this time that the FBI is investigating this incident as an act of targeted violence,” the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office, Joe Rothrock, said.

“What I can also share with you is that early evidence that we see from rounds that were found near the suspected shooter contain messages that are anti-ICE in nature.”

Shortly after the press conference, FBI Director Kash Patel echoed claims that the shooter may have been targeting ICE officials.

“While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an ideological motive behind this attack. One of the unspent shell casings recovered was engraved with the phrase ‘ANTI ICE,’” he said in a post on X along with a photo reportedly from the scene where a clip of bullets is on the ground with the phrase painted across one shell.

Jahn’s brother, Noah, who spoke to reporters before Joshua was identified, claimed that his brother did not feel strongly about politics.

“I didn’t think he was politically interested,” Noah Jahn said to NBC News. “He wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew. He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE.”

Public records show that Jahn was a registered independent and last voted during the presidential election in November 2024. He also pleaded guilty in 2016 to felony charges for delivering marijuana in an amount greater than ¼ ounce.

The brother said that he last saw Joshua two weeks ago and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He added that they grew up in nearby Allen and participated in the boy scouts and that his brother knew how to use the rifle that their parents owned.

“[H]e’s not a marksman, that’s for sure,” Mr. Jahn said. “He would not be able to make any shots like that.”

Noah also said that his brother had done coding work but was currently unemployed and that he was going to move to their parents’ property in neighboring Oklahoma.

Texas senator Ted Cruz was also at the scene in the wake of the shooting called for the “rhetoric” against ICE to stop.

“This is the third shooting in Texas directed at ICE or CBP. This must stop,” he said. “To every politician who is using rhetoric demonizing ICE and demonizing CBP, stop.”

“This has very real consequences. Look, in America we disagree, that’s fine, that’s the democratic process, but your political opponents are not Nazis.”

The facility was the scene of a bomb threat in August, when 36-year-old Bratton Dean Wilkinson walked up to the entrance and claimed that he had a bomb in his backpack and a “detonator” attached to his wrist. He was quickly taken into custody without incident.

Wednesday’s shooting was the latest in a number of incidents at ICE facilities across Texas.

A July 4 assault on a Texas immigration detention facility resulted in a police officer being wounded by gunfire to the neck. The attackers, wearing black tactical gear, fired shots outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, located southwest of Dallas. Authorities have filed charges against at least 11 individuals related to the incident.

A few days later, on Ryan Louis Mosqueda used an assault rifle to fire multiple rounds at federal agents departing a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen. Before being fatally shot by authorities, Mosqueda wounded a responding police officer. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed additional weapons, ammunition, and backpacks.