The search for a motive in the deadly shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas has centered on a 29-year-old man named Joshua Jahn. Identified by multiple law enforcement sources, Jahn is believed to be the sniper who opened fire from a nearby rooftop on the morning of September 24, 2025, killing one detainee and critically wounding two others before taking his own life. While the investigation is still unfolding, a disturbing clue emerged quickly: bullet casings found near the shooter were marked with the words “ANTI-ICE,” pointing to a potential ideological motive for the attack.
In the hours after the shooting, a picture of Joshua Jahn began to emerge from public records and family accounts, yet his precise motivations remain unclear. He was a person with roots in the Dallas suburbs, recent ties to Oklahoma, and a past minor criminal record, but one whom his own brother described as not being especially politically interested. This contradiction lies at the heart of the mystery as federal authorities work to piece together the sequence of events and the mindset that led to a violent act that has ignited a political firestorm.
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The Attack and the Immediate Aftermath
The violence unfolded around 6:40 a.m. local time at the ICE field office located on North Stemmons Freeway. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the shooter, positioned on the roof of a nearby building, “fired indiscriminately” at the ICE facility. The gunman specifically targeted a van parked in the building’s sallyport, a secure entrance and exit point, where detainees were located. All three victims were shot inside this van.
BREAKING: Dallas ICE facility shooter identified as Joshua Jahn, 29, sources familiar with the investigation tell @johnrobertsFox pic.twitter.com/8T0yAflGyX
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 24, 2025
The chaos of the morning was compounded by initial confusion over the casualty count. The DHS first stated that two detainees had been killed and one seriously injured, but later revised the official toll, clarifying that one detainee had died and two others were in critical condition. No ICE agents or other law enforcement officers were physically injured in the attack. As agents moved in on the shooter’s position, they found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The FBI’s Dallas field office took the lead in the investigation, quickly classifying the incident as an “act of targeted violence.” A significant piece of evidence was made public by FBI Director Kash Patel, who posted an image on social media of spent shell casings. One casing clearly had the phrase “ANTI-ICE” handwritten on it in blue ink, strongly suggesting the attack was ideologically driven. In response to the shooting, detainees from the facility were moved to another Texas detention center to complete processing.
Piecing Together a Profile of the Suspect
So, who was Joshua Jahn? Public records indicate he was a 29-year-old who grew up in Allen, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. He and his brother were involved in the Boy Scouts during their childhood. More recently, Jahn had associations with an address in Durant, Oklahoma, and was reportedly planning to move onto his parents’ property there. Law enforcement officials were seen at homes connected to him in both Fairview, Texas, where his parents live, and in Durant as part of the investigation.
His brother, Noah Jahn, expressed shock at the news, telling reporters that Joshua was “unique” but had not voiced strong feelings about ICE or politics to his family. “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.” He also cast doubt on his brother’s skill with a firearm, stating, “He’s not a marksman, that’s for sure. He would not be able to make any shots like that.”
Joshua Jahn, 29, named as shooter in Dallas ICE facility shooting. Reports claim he’s a gamer active on Discord and recently lost his job at Walmart. pic.twitter.com/d4tLEbXQ04
— GreatLakesLady (@GreatlakesladyM) September 24, 2025
Jahn had a minor criminal history. In 2016, when he was 19, he was charged with delivering marijuana, a state jail felony in Texas. He pleaded guilty, received deferred adjudication, and was placed on probation. Voting records from Collin County showed that Jahn voted in the Democratic primary in March 2020 but had not voted since the November 2024 general election. It is important to note that Texas voters do not register by party; they simply choose a party’s ballot when voting in primaries.
The shooting has triggered strong political reactions, with Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials blaming what they call inflammatory left-wing rhetoric against ICE for creating an environment that fuels such violence. Conversely, some Democratic lawmakers, like Texas state senator Nathan Johnson, urged against premature politicization, arguing that “these are disturbed people committing awful acts.”
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As the investigation continues, authorities are scouring Jahn’s social media, personal contacts, and background to understand what led to the attack. For now, Joshua Jahn remains an enigmatic figure, a man with a seemingly ordinary past who is alleged to have carried out an extraordinary act of violence that has left a community grieving and a nation searching for answers.
