Dallas shooter was US Army vet who served in Afghanistan
Police source says man named as Micah Johnson, 25, who shot dead 5 police officers, had no criminal past or ties to extremist groups
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The man named as the key suspect in the deadly Dallas shooting rampage against police officers was an army reservist who had served in Afghanistan, the US military said on Friday.
Micah Xavier Johnson, the 25-year-old identified by US media as the main shooter in an assault Thursday that left five officers dead, served with US forces in Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014, an Army statement said.
Johnson lived in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, CBS News and NBC News reported. He was killed in a tense showdown with police after the shootings, which also left two civilians wounded.
CNN, citing an unnamed law enforcement official, said Johnson had no criminal record or known ties to extremists. The network published a photograph of the suspect — a black man with a short beard shown with his fist raised and wearing an African-style print tunic. CBS News also posted the image of him on Twitter.
NEW: Photo shows #Dallas shooting suspect ID'd as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson https://t.co/ImEtSSNmRf pic.twitter.com/1iMXKpmMzB
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 8, 2016
Johnson served in the US Army Reserves until April 2015, ABC News reported. Unnamed defense officials told the network he was trained as a carpentry and masonry specialist.
Earlier, Dallas police said the main shooting suspect had told negotiators he was not affiliated with any groups.
The suspect told negotiators he was upset about the recent fatal police shootings of black men, and wanted to kill white people — specifically, white cops.
The Times of Israel Community.