The gunman behind this week’s fatal attack on a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility reportedly left a handwritten note pledging to instill “real terror” in ICE agents, according to FBI Director Kash Patel, who unveiled new evidence Thursday from the bureau’s investigation.
The shooter, identified as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn of Collin County, Texas, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire on the federal building.
Patel said the FBI’s Dallas office recovered the note during searches of Jahn’s residence and devices. The message read: “Hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror, to think, ‘is there a sniper with [armor-piercing] rounds on that roof?’”
According to Patel, Jahn had engaged in extensive planning before the assault.
Investigators found that he downloaded a list of Department of Homeland Security facilities in Dallas, scoured the internet for information on ballistics, and watched videos of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in the days immediately preceding the attack.
Between August 19 and August 24, he also researched apps that track the presence of ICE agents.
“Further accumulated evidence to this point indicates a high degree of pre-attack planning,” Patel said.
The attack, which federal officials described as indiscriminate, left one ICE detainee dead and two others in critical condition.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the gunman fired at multiple points of entry, including at a van outside the facility where the three victims were struck.
Patel also shared photos of unspent shell casings recovered at the scene. At least one casing bore the message “ANTI-ICE,” a sign, federal officials suggested, of the shooter’s explicit hostility toward the agency and its personnel.
The revelations come amid rising concern that federal immigration enforcement officers and the facilities where they work have increasingly become political targets. For conservatives, the latest details confirm a troubling pattern: a growing culture of left-wing extremism aimed at intimidating or silencing government agencies tasked with enforcing U.S. immigration law.
Though Patel stopped short of attributing the attack to any specific ideology, the evidence paints a clear picture of an assailant motivated by hostility toward ICE and its mission. The note’s reference to “snipers” and “armor-piercing rounds” underscored the shooter’s desire to inflict fear on law enforcement.
The attack also carried echoes of other recent acts of political violence, including the shooting of Charlie Kirk, which Jahn appeared to have researched in the hours before targeting ICE. For many conservatives, the linkage is no coincidence. Instead, they argue, it reflects a climate in which violent rhetoric against immigration enforcement — often downplayed by political leaders and the press — is spilling over into lethal reality.
While the investigation continues, Patel’s statement emphasized the FBI’s view that Jahn’s actions were deliberate, calculated, and driven by a desire to strike terror at the heart of America’s immigration system.
[READ MORE: Anti-Ice Message Found on Bullet Casing of Dallas Attacker]
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