Dallas ICE Shooting Suspect Wanted Agents to Feel ‘Real Terror’

The FBI says the man behind a bloody attack on a Dallas ICE field office left behind chilling notes vowing to strike fear into immigration agents.

On September 24, 29-year-old Joshua Jahn opened fire at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Dallas. He killed one detainee and critically wounded two others before turning the gun on himself.

Investigators say Jahn was armed, deliberate, and left a trail of disturbing evidence.

FBI Director Kash Patel, appointed under President Trump, said Jahn wrote that he hoped ICE agents would feel “real terror,” imagining a sniper waiting for them on rooftops.

Patel confirmed the suspect had studied Homeland Security documents, searched ballistics, and even looked up online videos of political figures being shot. Agents also found bullets marked with “anti-ICE” messages.

“This was no spur-of-the-moment outburst,” Patel said. “It showed a high degree of planning.”

The Trump administration wasted no time labeling the shooting as an act of political extremism.

Vice President JD Vance told supporters in North Carolina: “This was a violent left-wing extremist who wrote anti-ICE messages on his bullets. This is the consequence of dangerous rhetoric.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed that point, warning: “For months, we’ve said attacks on ICE are coming. This is the wake-up call. Politicians and media voices demonizing immigration enforcement now have blood on their hands.”

President Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Brave Men and Women of ICE are just trying to do their jobs, removing the WORST of the WORST criminals. Instead, they’re facing unprecedented threats and violence.”

But Jahn’s family and childhood friends painted him as something else entirely—an online troll who thrived on shock, not politics.

“He was never really into politics,” his brother Noah told NBC News. “He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE. He just wasn’t interested.”

One childhood friend said Jahn “was into politics only in the 4chan sense—contrarian, provocative, boundary-pushing for laughs, not conviction.”

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told NBC’s Top Story: “Seeing the photos today, some of the bullets hit the office I once sat in. People ask what keeps me up at night—it’s exactly this. The safety of the men and women of ICE.”

The FBI is still combing through Jahn’s devices and writings. Patel promised the public: “We will provide updates as soon as possible.”

For now, the attack has reopened the nation’s fierce debate over immigration enforcement, political rhetoric, and the threats facing federal agents on the front lines.