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Who was Joshua Jahn? What we know about suspected Dallas ICE facility shooter

Joshua Jahn
Collin County
/
Jail Records
Joshua Jahn

The 29-year-old man who killed at least one person before turning the gun on himself outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Wednesday morning has been identified as Joshua Jahn.

Public records show Jahn lived in Fairview, a Dallas suburb about 30 miles north of the city. His neighborhood in Fairview was inundated with police Wednesday afternoon.

A law enforcement official identified the suspect to the Associated Press. The official could not publicly disclose details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Dallas and Fairview police directed any inquiries to the FBI, which did not respond to a KERA request for information.

Jahn is suspected of shooting and killing one ICE detainee and leaving two others in critical condition outside an ICE field office in Dallas early Wednesday morning. The FBI said no law enforcement officers were shot.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at least one bullet casing was discovered to have “Anti-ICE” written on it.

Jahn had no record of violent crime. He was arrested and pleaded guilty to marijuana charges in 2016, according to Collin County court records. He was sentenced to 5 years probation and charged $680 in fines and restitution.

Jahn was released early from his probation in 2017, according to court records.

Police blocked off streets in the 1100 block of Wynford Court around 500 feet from what public records show are Jahn’s home, toward the bottom of a hill on a dead-end street.

KERA saw FBI, ATF, local police and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in the area Wednesday afternoon. Jahn's next door neighbor was trying to get back to her house — which was blocked off by police — and said she was "shocked" at the news. She didn't know Jahn well, she said, but said she was friendly with him and his family.

"I didn't know too much about him, but like I said very sweet family," he said. "So that was really, really surprising to hear."

Sherry Davis, another of Jahn’s neighbors, told KERA it’s jarring to see so much police activity in her small neighborhood.

“This is a very small community of eight, 10 houses, and we all feel like we know each other,” Davis said. “Clearly, I didn't know them very well.”

To Davis, the shooting was another reminder to Americans and elected officials that emotions need to be better controlled, rhetoric should be more thoughtful and people need to learn to work through their differences without violence.

"We all need to tone it down and check our feelings and try to communicate better, but it's up to all of us to do it," Davis said. “Stop being so inflammatory toward each other and just, you know, do our best to compromise and get along.”

A LinkedIn profile says Jahn attended Collin County College from 2015 to 2017 and lists his latest job at a solar energy company from November 2018 to May 2019. No other social media accounts could be verified as belonging to Jahn Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed Jahn worked there for a few months in 2017 and 2018.

"We are very saddened by the absolutely unacceptable violence in Dallas today," the spokesperson told KERA News in an email. "The suspected shooter was an employee of ours many years ago and worked for us for a few months. We must all do everything we can to come together as Americans and end this senseless political violence."

Public records indicate Jahn grew up in North Texas, with addresses in Allen and Fairview, and may have connections to Durant, Okla. Those records show he attended the University of Texas at Dallas for about a year starting in May 2015 and attended Collin College.

Collin College confirmed in an email to KERA that a student named Joshua Jahn attended off-and-on until 2018. A spokesperson for the college did not share any other details.

This developing story will be updated as more details become available.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org or follow James on X @ByJamesHartley.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

James Hartley is the Arlington Government Accountability reporter for KERA.
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela joins KERA News from El Paso, Texas where he graduated as a first-generation immigrant from the University of Texas at El Paso. Prior to joining KERA, Emmanuel worked at KFOX/KDBC El Paso, El Paso Matters and KERA News as an intern. Outside of work, Emmanuel enjoys collecting physical media like movies, music and comics.