Who is Joshua Jahn? Dallas ICE shooting suspect identified as North Texas man
A 29-year-old North Texas man has been identified as the suspect who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas on Wednesday morning, killing one detainee and critically injuring two others before taking his own life, officials said.
Joshua Jahn died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after firing a rifle at the ICE Field Office building from a nearby rooftop, authorities have said. He was publicly identified by law enforcement officials, who released more details Thursday on what their investigation has revealed about the shooter’s motives.
At Thursday’s news conference, investigators said Jahn had been planning the attack for months, and he left notes indicating that he was acting alone, that he wanted to kill ICE personnel while avoiding injury to detainees, and that he did not expect to survive the attack.
No officers were injured in the shooting, but they bravely ran toward the gunfire to try to help restrained detainees who were unable to get out of the van in which the victims were shot, officials said. There were other immigrants in the van besides the three who were shot, and officers brought them to safety.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that one of Jahn’s handwritten notes said, “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with AP (armor-piercing) rounds on that roof?”
Nancy Larson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, called the attack “the very definition of terrorism.” She said that notes found in a search of Jahn’s home “included a game plan of the attack and target areas at the facility. He called the ICE employees, ‘people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck.’ He wrote that he intended to maximize lethality against ICE personnel and to maximize property damage at the facility. He hoped to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainees and any other innocent people. It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them. It’s clear from these notes that he was targeting ICE agents and ICE personnel.”
Larson said it was a “tragic irony” that the victims of the shooting were all immigrants. The victims have not been publicly identified, and authorities say they’re following a process to notify consulates and families before releasing their names. Mexican government officials said that one of the critically injured victims is a Mexican citizen.
Jahn “acknowledged the potential for other casualties,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Joe Rothrock said. “He knew with a high likelihood ICE detainees would be transported that morning in the exact location where he was facing from his perch on a nearby rooftop.”
Patel said evidence in the case indicates “a high degree of pre-attack planning.” Video showed Jahn driving with a ladder on his vehicle, which investigators believe he used to access the roof. In August, Jahn legally purchased the 8mm, bolt-action rifle, and looked at apps that track the presence of ICE agents, investigators said.
According to the FBI, Jahn also downloaded a document titled “Dallas County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management” containing a list of DHS facilities, and searched online about ballistics and the video of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Jahn was a U.S. citizen. Authorities said they are investigating whether he was connected to anyone who had been detained by ICE.
Jahn grew up in North Texas, also lived in Oklahoma
Jahn was most recently connected with an address in Durant, Oklahoma, but has also lived in Collin County in North Texas, according to public records. Law enforcement officers on Wednesday searched two homes in Fairview, Texas, and in Durant that are believed to be connected to the suspect.
Rothrock, the FBI Dallas agent in charge, said that investigators found messages on at least one bullet casing near the shooter’s body that were “anti-ICE in nature.”
Patel wrote in a post on X, “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.’”
The suspect’s older brother, Noah Jahn, told NBC News that Joshua Jahn “didn’t have strong feelings about ICE.”
“I didn’t think he was politically interested,” Noah Jahn said. “He wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew.”
Records show Joshua Jahn was registered to vote as an independent in Oklahoma.
Two friends of Jahn’s told ABC News they have not seen him in about 10 years but his interests in high school were mainly internet culture and video games. “When people would start talking about politics, he was the first one to say, ‘Guys, shut up, can we just play Halo or something?’” one friend said.
One of the childhood friends told ABC that Jahn ironically posted an internet meme that showed a man in front of a Soviet flag — an image that was still recently visible on a social media profile that appeared to belong to him.
“It’s not a political thing,” the friend told ABC. “It’s just being on the computer too much.”
Joshua knew how to use a rifle, but “he’s not a marksman, that’s for sure,” Noah Jahn told NBC News before authorities publicly identified his brother as the gunman.
Joshua Jahn pleaded guilty to delivery of marijuana between the amount of 1/4 of an ounce and 5 pounds in Texas in 2016, according to public records.
The brothers grew up in Allen, Texas, and attended school there. Joshua used to do coding work but recently has been unemployed, Noah Jahn told NBC News.
The University of Texas at Dallas confirmed in a statement that Jahn briefly attended the school more than 10 years ago.
In the Fairview neighborhood where members of Jahn’s family live, one resident — 24-year-old Sloane Mordecai — told reporters that “they’ve been great neighbors.”
Mordecai said Joshua is a few years older than her and she didn’t know him well, but, “I’ve had lovely interactions with their family, so I’m so horrified to hear about all this.”
Officials call for toned-down rhetoric about ICE
At the press conference, Rothrock said the FBI, Dallas police and ICE are investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.”
“This vile attack was motivated by hatred for ICE,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Our prayers are with the families of those killed and our ICE law enforcement. ... For months, we’ve been warning politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about ICE law enforcement before someone was killed. This shooting must serve as a wake-up call to the far-left that their rhetoric about ICE has consequences.”
Dallas police and other law enforcement officers responded to the ICE office, located at 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway near I-35E, about 6:30 a.m.
ICE officials released a statement saying that a sniper began “firing indiscriminately at the building, including at a transport van in the sallyport” which the victims were inside.
Jahn was found dead on the roof of a nearby immigration attorney’s office, authorities said.
Staff writer Emerson Clarridge contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Who is Joshua Jahn? Dallas ICE shooting suspect identified as North Texas man."
