4 police officers dead in sniper shooting during Dallas Black Lives Matter protest

Four Dallas police officers have been shot dead by sniper fire during protests against the shooting of black men by police, the authorities say. One suspect is in custody after a shootout with police, while a person of interest turned himself in.

Gunfire broke out as demonstrators marched through the city. The protests were sparked by the deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. Dallas Police Chief David Brown said 11 officers were shot “ambush style” by snipers, killing three. .

Police later said a fourth had died. “We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches… and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could,” he said. .

Bomb teams are investigating a suspicious device left at the scene of the shootout with a suspect. Police issued a photo of one of the suspects with a rifle slung over his shoulder. It is not clear if he was involved in the shootout or had handed himself in.