Micah Xavier Johnson: The 2016 Dallas Police Ambush
Overview
On the night of July 7, 2016, 25-year-old Army Reserve veteran Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed police during a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas, Texas, killing five law enforcement officers and wounding others. The demonstration had followed the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights earlier that week. Johnson moved through the area near El Centro College, using cover and elevated positions to target officers before barricading inside the college. He was killed in the early hours of July 8 after police deployed explosives via a bomb-disposal robot, an unprecedented step in U.S. policing at the time.
Timeline of the Attack
Shortly after 9:00 p.m. on July 7, gunfire erupted in the heart of downtown as protesters finished a march. Johnson fired on clustered officers, fatally striking several within minutes and injuring others, including civilians. He then retreated into Dallas College’s El Centro campus, where a prolonged standoff and negotiation ensued. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on July 8, after talks failed and Johnson continued to threaten officers, Dallas police ended the standoff by delivering an explosive charge with a remotely operated robot, killing him at the scene.
Victims
Five officers were killed in the ambush. Nine additional officers and two civilians were wounded. The fallen officers were:
- Senior Corporal Lorne Bradley Ahrens, 48 — Dallas Police Department — killed July 7, 2016, Downtown Dallas (near El Centro College).
- Officer Michael Leslie Krol, 40 — Dallas Police Department — killed July 7, 2016, Downtown Dallas.
- Sergeant Michael Joseph Smith, 55 — Dallas Police Department — killed July 7, 2016, Downtown Dallas.
- Officer Patricio “Patrick” Zamarripa, 32 — Dallas Police Department — killed July 7, 2016, Downtown Dallas.
- Officer Brent Thompson, 43 — Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Police — killed July 7, 2016, Downtown Dallas; the first DART officer to die in the line of duty.
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