Dallas Police Shootings: Who Was Dallas Police Killer Micah Johnson?

Days after his deadly standoff with Dallas Police, new information is beginning to paint a picture of gunman Micah Johnson. Johnson, 25, claimed to act alone during the shootings, and all signs point to his being a deeply troubled young man with radical views.

Johnson was killed late Thursday night following an ambush attack of Dallas Police during a planned peaceful protest outside police headquarters. Just hours prior, Johnson had killed five members of the Dallas Police force, while wounding seven other individuals.

Police used a bomb robot to disengage Johnson following an hours-long standoff inside El Centro College in downtown Dallas. In Johnson’s final moments, he left a cryptic symbol of his initials etched in his own blood on a wall next to him.

Upon identification, the first released images of Johnson were that of a dutiful young man who served his country in the Afghanistan war. It was confirmed by area investigators that Johnson served in the U.S. Army Reserve and held the ranking of private first class with the 284th Engineering Company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

According to reports from CNN,Johnson’s military career lasted from 2009 to 2014. Johnson was deployed in Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014.

While it is not clear if Johnson had any special military weapons training, it’s come to light he had been planning to “shoot and move,” which he did so effectively Thursday evening that officials believed more than one shooter was involved.

After a thorough search of Johnson’s home, investigators discovered several homemade ballistics and firearms. Dallas Police Chief David Brown stated the following.

“This was a well-planned, well-thought-out, evil tragedy. During the search of the suspect’s home, detectives found bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition and a personal journal of combat tactics.”

During his press release, Brown further stated, “Detectives are in the process of analyzing the information contained in the journal.”

But what would cause a seemingly loyal former soldier in his life’s prime to commit such a deadly, hopeless act? To find the answer to this perplexing question we must delve deeper into the life and mind of Micah Brown.

While video surfaced this week of African-American men –Philando Castille and Alton Sterling– graphically breathing their last breaths at the hands of police, Micah Johnson reportedly became enraged.

This anger, combined with Johnson’s aligned idealism with online racial separatist groups, spawned one of the deadliest attack on law enforcement this country has ever seen. Johnson’s now deleted Facebook page showed his support of three entities the Southern Poverty Law Center deemed as “separatist hate groups.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center called for a halt to these killings, while promoting unity, stating: “We condemn the racially motivated killings of law enforcement in Dallas and mourn the loss of life. This was an act of domestic terrorism… Our communities need healing.”

While this unfortunate act of violence end-capped a sad week highlighted by civilian/police tensions, the Micah Johnson shooting should not damper the legacy of any individual whom has lost their life in a murky situation with law enforcement.

To date, 491 individuals have been killed by police during the first six months of 2016, per the Washington Post. While anger concerning these tragic events are at an all-time high, a sensible national dialogue must be conducted to stop the cyclical violence.

While acquaintances, family and former classmates of Micah Johnson are shocked by his actions, the nation mourns the loss of five brave officers –and a further loss of security due to mass public shooting.

Check in with the Inquisitr for breaking updates on Micah Brown.

[Photo by Eric Gay/AP Images]