Dallas chief ‘would use any tool at my disposal to save an officer’s life’

Police Chief David Brown has had no second thoughts about using a bomb-wielding robot to kill a sniper who ambushed police officers Thursday night after a peaceful Black Lives Matter march, he said Monday.

“This wasn’t an ethical dilemma at all for me,” Brown said at a news conference in Dallas. “I’ll use any tool at my disposal to save an officer’s life.”

The plan to use the $151,000 robot and bomb was improvised in 15 minutes, he said, adding that he told bomb technicians, “Don’t blow up the building.”

He said he and his officers are tired enough that Arlington police will work with the Secret Service for President Barack Obama’s visit to Dallas on Tuesday. Brown said Arlington police volunteered for the job. Arlington police declined to comment.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are among those planning to attend a 12:40 p.m. Tuesday interfaith memorial service at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.

The service, which will be broadcast online, is closed to the public but open to families of the officers and “members of the Dallas community whose unity is reflective of who we are as Americans” according to a White House statement.

After the ceremony, Obama also plans to “meet privately with the families of the fallen police officers and those who were injured to personally express the nation’s support and gratitude for their service and sacrifice,” the statement says.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not attend. He was admitted to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio Monday with second- and third-degree burns on both legs and feet.​ First lady Cecilia Abbott will attend in his place.​

Number of injured adjusted

The sniper, Micah X. Johnson, was killed early Friday after hours of negotiations failed.

Dallas police officers Lorne Ahrens, a 14-year veteran of the department; Michael Smith, a 27-year veteran; Michael Krol; and Patrick Zamarripa were killed in the shooting, as was DART Police officer Brent Thompson.

The police chief adjusted figures from earlier reports to note that nine officers were wounded: four Dallas police officers, three DART officers and two El Centro College officers.

Brown said that 11 officers opened fire on the suspect and two officers operated the robot with the bomb.

Detectives on Monday are continuing to review more than 170 hours of video from body cameras worn by officers at the scene on the night of the shooting. Authorities will also review videos from police car dash cameras and business store surveillance cameras in downtown Dallas.

In addition, detectives have gone over 300 statements from witnesses and officers, and some officers have yet to give statements, Brown said Monday.

The Dallas police chief said that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are still trying to determine the meaning of the initials “RB,” which were left in blood by Johnson at El Centro College in downtown Dallas.

A “large stockpile” of bomb-making materials was found in Johnson’s home in Mesquite, Brown said.

While Brown said he didn’t believe Johnson was taught about explosives in the military, “he knew what he was doing. He wasn’t some novice.”

Interview: Shooter’s parents speak with The Blaze

In an exclusive interview with The Blaze, Johnson’s parents said his behavior changed after he was discharged from the Army in 2015. Johnson was in the military for about six years, including seven months in Afghanistan.

Delphine Johnson, the shooter’s mother, said that when her son was growing up he wanted to be a police officer and later was excited about being in the military.

“He loved his country,” she told The Blaze. “He wanted to protect his country.”

But later, she said, “The military was not what Micah thought it would be. He was very disappointed, very disappointed. But it may be that the ideal that he thought of our government, what he thought the military represented, it just didn’t live up to his expectations.”

James Johnson, 55, the gunman’s father, said his son began studying black history after he was discharged. The Blaze reported that his Facebook page, now deleted, had photos of a “black power” fist and a Pan-African flag. He also liked on Facebook The New Black Panther Party and the African American Defense League.

The family members said that while Johnson never showed signs of hatred for white people, he became angry after the police-involved shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.

James Johnson wept as he tried to understand his son’s actions Thursday in Dallas.

“I don’t know what to say to anybody to make anything better. I didn’t see it coming,” Johnson told The Blaze. “I love my son with all my heart. I hate what he did.”

Investigation far from over

“We’re going to turn over every rock and follow every lead until it’s exhausted,” Brown said.

He and his family received death threats almost immediately after the shooting, he said: “We’re all on edge and we’re being very careful.”

Officers may be mandated to go to counseling.

“We want to be supermen and superwomen, and we are not,” Brown said.

The chief praised his officers at the press conference, saying that the crime rate in Dallas has declined for the last few years. In 2014, Brown said the murder rate was the second-lowest since 1930.

Brown also noted that the department received 150 to 200 excessive force complaints per year for the past five years, but the number was just 14 in 2015.

The department has had a rash of resignations, particularly in 2015, when more than dozen officers left to join the Fort Worth police force.

The police chief said the resignations occurred because officers were the lowest-paid in the area — $44,000 to start.

“We’re working to correct that,” he said.

Brown said he believes community policing is key for the department to gain the trust of residents.

“This is the best department in this country,” Brown said. “This shooting will not discourage us.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Dallas chief ‘would use any tool at my disposal to save an officer’s life’."