we have new details in our continuous breaking news coverage about the ambush sniper-style attacks that happened in dallas. now, this is all going -- all taking place really quickly as we just got a press briefing from the mayor and police of chief just a short time ago. look at the scene from last night. the chaos as panicked protesters were fleeing the scene. i want to bring you up to date on what we know this hour. we did hear from the dallas police and mayor a short time ago, shedding new light on the possibility of a motive for one of the gunman killed after a long standoff with police. >> he wanted to kill officers. and he expressed killing white people. he expressed killing white officers. he expressed anger for black lives matter. >> now police also revealed that after an hours-long standoff and negotiation with one of the suspects, they said in a

bomb-carrying robot and detonated it, killing the suspect. and this chilling video was captured by a witness showing one of the snipers firing shots at police. three other suspects are under arrest. now, a total of 12 police officers were shot. five are dead. seven wounded after these snipers opened fire during what was a peaceful demonstration against deadly police en cointers in louisiana and minnesota over the last several days. all of this happening shortly before 9:00 p.m. local time. among five officers killed, 33 yield brent thompson with d.a.r.t. married just two weeks ago. overseas in poland for a nato summit, president obama denounced the deadly sniper ambush on police. >> a vicious, calculated and

despicable attack on law enforcement. there is no possible justification for these kinds of attacks. or any violence against law enforcement. >> all right. so we have reporters on the ground with the very latest from dallas and talking to law enforcement experts, as well. talking about the pieces we have been able to put together from local law enforcement. we want to start with nbc's gabe gutierrez. good morning. all right. so unfortunately, we are having a technical difficulty with gabe's shot right there. and wee going to try to work on that and get him back as quickly as possible. gabe being one of several skpon correspondents on the ground for msnbc. i think we've got that worked out. so gabe, bring us up to speed on the very latest. >> reporter: thomas, the latest numbers from the mayor's office, 12 officers were shot, as well

as two civilians. five of those officers are now dead. much of downtown dallas is shut down. but authorities have said they finished their second sweep of this area for explosives, and none were found. but now we're learning from the police chief that this suspect told police that he did this because he wanted to kill white police officers. after this week's police shooting deaths of black men in louisiana and minnesota, what began as a peaceful protest in downtown dallas turned suddenly into chaos. >> go, go, go! >> reporter: just before 9:00 p.m., terrified demonstrators running for cover, others stopping to help the injured. cell phone video capturing the barrage of gunfire. >> shots fired. officer down. it's an assist officer. >> reporter: police ducking behind squad cars and building, one officer ditching behind his motorcycle, taking cover. >> they just started shooting, all of the cops were getting

shot. i just saw cops bending over. it had to be five or six cops getting shot down. >> reporter: authorities calling it an ambush. >> we heard the shots, and i saw one of the officers land down on his stomach, and he was not responsive. they rolled him over. >> reporter: at least two snipers in elevated positions opening fire during the rally on officers who were not wearing riot gear. >> these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches in the garages in the downtown area and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could. >> reporter: overnight, shocked confusion. dallas coming to grips with a rapidly unfolding national tragedy. >> people saw a baby stroller left in the middle of the street, and people walked over to the baby stroller and picked it up. like, i guess the parent was in shock. >> reporter: the frantic search

for answers as a tense standoff was under way. a suspect cornered in a parking garage, exchanging gunfire with police. by 1:00 a.m., authorities saying another suspect, a woman, taken into custody near the garage. two people seen leaving the area in a mercedes also stopped and questioned. then horrifying threats from the gunmen inside the garage. >> told our negotiators that the end is coming. and he is going to hurt and kill more of us. meaning law enforcement. and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage, and in downtown. >> reporter: within minutes, by stabbeders heard a blast by 2:25 local time, that suspect dead. police swept the area for possible explosive devices and found none. >> so that was nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting for us. and this morning, downtown dallas is an enormous crime scene, much of it closed. normal by business is disrupted. the city reeling, because they have never been through this in

modern times. jacob rascon. >> reporter: good morning. if there is any good news in all of this, it is that those officers who are wounded, as far as we know, are not suffering life threatening injuries. most have left the hospital and we have just learned the names of three of the d.a.r.t. officers who were wounded, and they are misty mcbride, omar cannon and jesus rattana. a fourth was killed, and we have just learned that he was married only two weeks ago. >> at age 58, our worst nightmare happened. >> reporter: the nightmare in downtown dallas. an active shooter. >> market and lamar. market and lamar. assist officer, shots fired. shots fired, officer down. it's an assist officer. >> reporter: dallas police now on high alert, racing toward the gunfire. >> channel 2. all s.w.a.t. fires on channel 2.

saying the suspect has a rifle. >> rapid gunfire. and because i'm a gun owner, i knew that it was an assault rifle. >> reporter: but police can't find a suspect. >> we've got a guy with a long rifle, we don't know where the hell he's at. >> reporter: and officers are being gunned down. >> like all of the cops are getting shot. i just saw cops bending over. it had to have been like five or six cops all getting shot down. >> my car's shot. i'm en route to baylor hospital. let them know i'm coming. >> reporter: the news is bad. >> just found out that ten had been shot. three have passed away. several in surgery. >> an 11th officer has been shot. >> reporter: and law enforcement is learning it's not one suspect, but potentially several. snipers. picking off police. >> working together with rifles, triangulated at elevated positions in different points in the downtown area. >> reporter: three people are in police custody. one is a woman. two caught leaving the scene, and police are negotiating with a fourth who is still shooting, and a chilling new threat.

>> the suspect that we are negotiating with has told our negotiators that he's going to hurt and kill more of us. and that there are bombs all over the place. >> reporter: five hours after the first shots are fired, police say the suspect they have been negotiating with is neutralized. no bombs are found. and more heart breaking news from the dallas pd. we are sad to report a fifth officer has died. a night of terror, bravery, confusion, agonizing sadness. a night simply unimaginable. and as you walk around and meet these officers, it is difficult to find anyone who has not met or know in some way those victims in the police departments that were affected. and you can see the pain on their faces having been up all night and now dealing with a tragedy of the loss of their colleagues. as, of course, the investigation is just getting started. thomas? >> jacob rascon reporting in dallas. thanks. i want to bring in msnbc

contributor and former fbi profiler, clint van zandt. and clint, have you ever seen anything like this before that you can talk to perspective wise about a coordinated attack on law enforcement? >> yeah, thomas. we have seen it in the middle east. we haven't seen it take place here. realize, it was just a year ago in that is, texas, that one individual used kind of a home made armored car to attack dallas police headquarters. that was someone with some significant mental problems. and this shooter, according to the police chief, the one that law enforcement has killed, even though he indicated he was by himself, and he suggested his motivation was to kill white people, especially white police officers, we know now that there may have been a second sniper, as well as three or four other people perhaps involved. so, you know, we've got this

potential conspiracy. and had there been explosive devices, that would have suggested that it might have been in planning for weeks or longer. but with the exclusion of the claimed explosive devices, these shooters could have put this together in a relatively a short period of time, the last couple days. >> does that reveal from what police told us in that press conference about the intent really describe the motive? that went into this? because we know gabe gutierrez in the last hour interviewed the organizer of the protest march. it rapidly came together in about 40 hours. so for something that seems so sophisticated, how do you think they were able to enact so quickly around a protest in a short period of time? >> it was interesting, thomas. i heard another commentator today suggest that this shooting

muddies the water for black lives matter issues. well, i many, it doesn't muddy the water. it buries police officers. and this wedge that we see driven between law enforcement and our community between our 1 million police officers and our 320 million civilians, that distance between the two seems to be growing further and further, and you talked to a lot of police officers today, thomas. they feel that they've got a target on their back. and as the police chief says in dallas, we feel like we get very little support from the public. so we've got this tremendous disconnect between law enforcement and the public they serve. and, you know, part of it, thomas, is when we see these shootings take place between a police officer and a civilian, and we see it over and over again. it's just like 9/11, when we watched those planes crash into buildings dozens of times a day. now we see these confrontations.

single confrontation. but we see it dozens of times a day. and that may fuel -- may feed into an individual like this shooter who said not only do i want to kill white people, but i want to kill white cops, because of that ever-expanding distance between police and those they try to serve. >> we hope to get more facts from the police as this is an ongoing crime scene and investigation this in dallas. we just had the one briefing this morning. we expect more later today. clint van zandt. thank you, sir. appreciate your time. >> thank you. much more ahead about the deadly ambush in dallas, texas. coming up, i'm going to speak with the texas attorney general about where the investigation stands so far. back in a moment. >> i was walking, and a sniper just started shooting. like all of the cops are getting shot. i just saw cops bending over. five or six cops get being shot did you know.

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welcome back, everybody. ment want to get you caught up to speed. breaking headlines from dallas, where five police officers have been killed in this ambush-style attack overnight. at a news conference a short time ago, the dallas police chief revealed one of the suspects captured. told authorities he was upset over recent police-involved shootings. and that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. police killed that suspect after several hours of negotiations broke down, saying they saw no other option. they detonated a bomb attached to a robot where the suspect was holed up. three people are in custody, but the chief says more suspects could be out there. meanwhile, authorities say most of the officers wounded during last night's peaceful protest are now out of the hospital. in all, 12 officers were shot by unknown snipers. four dallas police officers --

excuse me, five dallas police officers were killed, along with another officer. dallas area rapid transit officer. so that makes a total of five that were involved in this. there were 100 different police officers that were on the scene. 800 protesters that were in a peaceful march that took place. chris van horn, ksax, joining us from dallas this morning. chris, explain what this means for downtown, in terms of where the active crime scene is, and then also the mood of people who are trying to filter in what this means. >> reporter: yeah, thomas. everybody everyone is trying to kind of take in everything they see here and kind of understand what happened here last night. as for the impact on downtown, this is the the heart of the city, a 20-block area closed off right now, including the crime scene here, which is around el centro college, the buildings where that suspect, as you

mentioned, was killed by police early this morning. and you know, we talked about the 800 protesters involved in that peaceful march. but it wasn't just those 800. this is also, of course, the dallas area rapid transit bus and light rail station. so there were people waiting for their buses and waiting for trains as well, who were caught in this. that's why four dallas area rapid transit police officers were shot. i spoke with one man waiting for his bus last night around midnight. he actually said that one of the victims, one of the officers, was shot basically from behind, ambushed by the suspect. he actually thought the suspect was a police officer, based on what he was wearing. we don't know if that was the suspect that was then killed or not. i spoke with another man who is an el centro college student, takes classes here. he was down here checking out the protests last night, and he heard what he thought was a firecracker at first. and then, of course, it was the gunshots and he said it was like a firefight. and he took off out of here, back this morning to see whether or not classes were going to

resume. classes have been cancelled here at the college. but he was sort of taking it all in, saying this is the kind of violence that dallas does not need. and then asking people to, of course, pray for dallas, something that the mayor and religious leaders here will do at noon central time. and then in terms of the scene, i mentioned the 20-block area. but there are dozens, and i mean dozens of markers for evidence out here. a very large scene in the rosa parks plaza, is what they call this, part of the d.a.r.t. stations down here in front of a business, and, of course, right outside the door of that college building. the numbers that i could see from our camera shot, we're talking probably 80, 90 rounds and other pieces of evidence that are out there. this is going to take a very long time to process. dallas police, one of their public information officers, tweeting out this morning, these closures will likely last well into the evening. >> i was reading a piece that the "washington post" put up that talked specifically about the community work that the dallas police department does. that they're one of the more

improved police departments in terms of handling that community relationship. i know as i was doing research on this, there was a dallas officer involved in a shooting, the latest june of 2015, the cop indicted, waiting for trial. explain the types of stories you cover, and if this is an issue in the city of dallas, about the relationship between police and community members. >> reporter: there have been some fatal shootings in the last couple of years, and it is something that the department really is working to try and mend that relationship. this particular year, the murder rate here in that is, in certain sections of dallas, has really gone up. the chief was under some criticism by the police unions for his handling of that. but the way they have handled it, and it seems to be successful is by having officers go on foot patrol, interact with these neighbors and residents that are seeing this crime, getting them involved. so they really are making that

effort to kind of improve that relationship between the community and a perfect example is last night. they worked with the protesters to block off streets and to make sure that their first amendment rights were safe and worked with them throughout the process of planning the protests and then the march down here. so it is definitely something they are working on, because there have been some issues, as you mentioned that shooting last year, that have been issues here in the last couple of years. >> all right. our chris van horn there. thank you very much. and, again, roughly about 800 protesters that were involved in this peaceful march downtown. 100 police officers assigned, a combination of those d.a.r.t. officers and dallas police. i'm joined now by the attorney general for the state of texas. ken paxton. sir, good to have you with me. help us understand what the police chief and the mayor said in the last hour about the suspect who died in the parking garage, and the intent behind what happened last night. and what you're also learning from the other suspects.

>> well, you know what, i think it's difficulty point to know what the intent was, other than by what the words of the suspect said. so i don't know if we're going to know that until time pass or we may never know it. but one of the things i did take from what the police chief said is that we need to encourage our law enforcement, because of risking their lives, and in this case, they gave their lives for citizens of dallas and texas. >> so, sir, the one suspect who died after being the robot that was sent in with an explosive device and was detonated by police, that's the suspect that police are attributing those words, the motives of wanting to go after white police officers specically. there are three other suspects. what can you tell us about them? >> actually, i can't say much about that. i don't know exactly what those suspects are saying at this point. they're still being interviewed, still being interrogated. at this point, i don't know that anybody knows or -- and they may

know. the police department is in charge of this investigation. we're an added resource and will do whatever we need to help the police department. right now they're in charge of interviewing the suspects. >> when it moves forward, though, in terms of charges and if these suspects are found to be held accountable for anything involved with this shooting, what charges will you go after? >> well, in texas, typically we have no jurisdiction at the ag's office. i'm certain because i have lived in this area for 20 years, i'm certain there will be accountability if they determine that somebody was involved in this horrific crime. >> and, sir, the repair for the community, obviously, right now, it's still in shock, trying to figure out exactly why this happened. from your position and also from other elected officials to community leaders, what's been the recommendation of how you can help this area not only

mourn, but heal? >> i can tell you this. it's surreal for me. i used to office down here, and to see the area that i used to walk every day become a huge massive crime scene with hundreds of police officers, it was shocking. but i tell people positively, pray for the families of the lost officers, and then encourage law enforcement as they go on. because they acknowledge that they don't feel encouraged. they feel like they're risking their lives and they aren't encouraged. so i say encourage law enforcement. and then get involved in your community, and make a difference. work with groups like operation blue shield, which tries to make this connection between communities and law enforcement. so there's a lot that we can do. and i hope that this incident in dallas will put us on a path towards doing that. >> so with the other suspects you have no information on them, about age, gender, race? >> that's all being determined by the dallas police department. i'm very confident that they

will reach a good resolution and come up with the information that we need. they're doing a great job. >> and when it comes to the reason why this protest was formed, it was because of the situation that was born out of baton rouge with the death of a man by police lethal force. also the instance happening out of st. paul. have you had a chance to look at those videos and from a legal perspective, are you grateful those videos exist, to help either exonerate those officers or prove their guilt? >> i have not had a chance to look at all of those videos. but i'm always glad that there's video evidence of whatever happened. i always think that's helpful. i don't think it's the whole story. there's always -- video can only show so much. testimony and witnesses are another piece of the puzzle. and obviously, the officers involved have a story to tell, as well. >> texas attorney general, ken paxton, sir. thank you for your time. we really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me on. >> president obama in poland for a nato summit, taking time to

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one of the suspects before he was killed and learned the possibility of motive. >> the suspect said he was upset about black lives matter. he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. the suspect said he was upset at white people. the suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. the suspect stated he will eventually -- that we will eventually find the ieds. the suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups, and he stated that he did this alone. >> also, new from police this morning, they say they used a robot armed with an explosive device to kill that specific gunman after negotiating with

him for several hours. a total of 12 officers were shot, five killed when snipers opened fire, just as a peaceful demonstration was wrapping up. and this was a protest to march against the recent deadly police encounters we have been covering this week from louisiana and minnesota. i want to bring in now john matthews. john is a former dallas police officer, now the executive director of the community safety institute. john, it's good to have you with us. and first off, explain what the sense of mentality is within the dallas police department when it comes to community outreach. >> well, i think over the last three or four decades, we have actually been making progress. we've got a very proactive community policing program. we try to build relationships with all aspects of the community. and we understand that our job is to partner with the community, if we're going to keep this community safe. there is a limited number of us, and we have to work with the

citizens if we want to keep this city safe and secure. >> and john, do you know, did you work and serve with any of the officers killed or injured? >> i worked with some of the officers that were killed and injured. i've been off the job for a while now. but, you know, we're a small family. and when one of us grieves, we all grieve. and this was a horrific night for us. losing all of these officers in this ambush-style attack, and it has really gone right to the core of all of our police family. of not just here in dallas, but i'm hearing from officers all across the country. >> i mean, this takes on the tragedy now of being the de deadliest event for police since 9/11. obviously, many people lost their lives in 9/11. it was just targeted against killing as many americans as possible. this was specifically targeted at many and women in blue. the recent videos that have come

out showing the use of lethal force by police, whether it's from louisiana or from st. paul, minnesota, have you seen those videos and are you able to speak to how some people within minority communities feel that they are guilty and seen as suspicious no matter what by certain police forces? >> well, i certainly think there's much work that could be done in communities across the united states. i know there's mistrust in many communities. and we're working to build that trust and to build that relationship. but to see the shootings that happened, whether it's the last two days or the last couple of years does not justify the type of ambush-style attack that we saw last night. and that resulted in the death of five officers. if there's community concerns out there, we want to work with the citizens. we want to bring them to the table. we want to understand what they're going through, and we want to listen to their

concerns. we want to build bridges with them. we don't ever want to see an attack like we saw last night. it's devastating for the community. >> we know that the family of alton sterling, he was killed early tuesday morning, that family has spoken out, and denounced any type of violence against the police officers demonstrated in dallas or elsewhere for that matter. so specifically through the community safety institute, which you are the executive director, what are you doing about that outreach, that trust issue, the community connection to see things through a better perspective and that we don't have to witness the escalation of deadly force videos like we have seen just this past week? >> yeah, and you hit on it right there. one of the things that we have been focusing on over the last two years is deescalation. deescalation techniques. working with law enforcement officers all across the country to give them the skills, the tactics and the abilities to deescalate a situation so it

doesn't turn into a deadly force incident. and we've got to continue to work on those deescalation skills. we've got to continue to work on community relation skills, and we've got to continue to partner with everybody. again, bring them to the table and let them know, we're all in this together. >> i certainly think that you have the heart of the nation that surrounds you and your former police community there in that is, going through this, as we search for more facts and details about the intent, the motive and the suspects that now police have in their own custody. john matthews, thank you, sir. appreciate it. >> thank you. so we've just learned today that attorney general loretta lynch will make a statement about last night's dallas ambush at 11:30 this morning. we'll bring that to you live right here on msnbc. and straight ahead, more details about last night's deadly shooting of these police officers in dallas, texas. we're also working to confirm more about the officers that

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tell 'em cedric sent you. so we have breaking news now about the identity of one of the shooters. we want to go back to dallas, nbc's gabe gutierrez on the ground for us. gabe, what have you learned? >> reporter: hi, thomas. good morning. yes, we just got the -- who is believed to be the gunman who was killed by police after he was barricaded inside the parking garage. a senior law enforcement official tells nbc news he is identified as micah xavier johnson, 25 years old, from the dallas area, according to a senior law enforcement official. again, that name, micah xavier johnson. 25 years old. we don't have any more information on him at this time. however, as we have been reporting, the police chief says this morning that he told the negotiators that he wanted to do this to kill white police

officers. he says he told investigators that he was acting alone, but that he was upset about the recent police shootings in other parts of the country, and he was targeting white police officers. again, a senior law enforcement official tells nbc news that the gunman has just been identified as micah xavier johnson, 25 years old, from the dallas area. >> and so gabe, while working to find out more information now that we have this name and age, let's talk about the fact that he said he was working alone. police still took into custody three other potential suspects. so how did eye-witnesses describe the chaotic scene of gunfire because aren't there initial reports that there was a triangular approach? >> yeah. and that's something that's still being sorted out by police, and they wouldn't go deep into that investigation at their news conference. but you're right. initially police this said in

the news conference earlier today, there had been at least two snipers perched above the crowd that were taking aim at the police officers. yes, as you mentioned, police have said they have taken at least three people into custody and have been questioning them. thomas, as you know, these investigations are very fluid. it could be these three, perhaps, had nothing to do with it, or perhaps investigators may be looking into whether they aided the gunman in any way. police did say earlier today that the three people were uncooperative. according to authorities earlier in the day. but, again, there is a lot of questions that remain about whether they may have helped the gunman, whether they were involved at all. late last night, there was a name, a person of interest that was released by the dallas police department. that person was cleared, turned out not to be involved in the shooting in any way. so, again, this is a very fluid situation. a massive investigation under way right now.

this, the deadliest attack on u.s. law enforcement since 9/11. and right now dallas police, they have shut down many streets here in the area. they have said that they performed this sweep, several sweeps throughout the morning, and that they have not found any extra explosives in here. we did hear from the police earlier, and just a short time ago from the police chief, that how this gunman died was that police actually sent in a robot and detonated an explosive when they felt they needed to take him down. so, again, a senior law enforcement official tells nbc news that the gunman has been identified as micah xavier johnson, 25 years old from the dallas area. we're working to find out any more information. thomas? >> okay. gabe, real quickly, you had an incredibly detailed interview in the last hour with the organizer of the protest march. and he was saying he was standing next to offers when he heard the shots fired, and he

actually clutched his own body, because he saw people dropping around him. did he talk more about the reference point of where those shots were coming from? >> reporter: right. it was a very chilling description he gave. this was the organizer of the black lives matter protests. and he lives here in the dallas area. and he says that, you know, the rally was winding down, he was towards the front of it, and that -- it was a very peaceful rally up until this point. he said he had been with police officers, they had even taken pictures with some of the people in the crowd. but all of a sudden, he heard gunshots over and over again. and at first, for a split second, he told me they thought they might have been fire crackers, but very quickly realized they were gunshots and he saw two police officers drop to the ground right in front of him. he thought perhaps he may have been shot. he managed to get away and was able to speak with us this morning. thomas? >> nbc's gabe gutierrez on the ground for us. thank you very much. we had a very rare moment of silence this morning on the

floor of the new york stock exchange. traders taking a minute to remember the officers who lost their lives last night before the opening bell. we'll have more on the tragedy out of dallas, right after this. ♪ ♪

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the fact that this new information as police are saying that the suspect that was killed, a bomb was sent in on a robot, detonated in the garage where he was holed and killed him, said he wanted to kill

white people, especially white officers. how are you trying to engage people in common sense conversations about what it means in this country to have the social contract with police and community improve? >> well, i've done very little since this happened last night. but i have a history of working with our police chiefs down through the years. even before coming to congress 24 years ago. i have worked directly with our policemen, and i've also worked to educate the general public. unfortunately, we cannot make sure that everyone has access to mental health care when it's not available. we also have to make sure that all of the victims and families know that we care and we do what we can to try to alleviate as much pain as possible.

but this is really a part of the national perspective that we've got to address. we have attempted to do that in dallas. back in 1973, my first year of being elected to the texas house, my first interim study was on police relations in dallas, texas. i have not stopped being interested, and i've seen great gains with the leadership of our police department, when i got the call this morning from the dallas that had the deputy police chief, the police chief, the mayor of the county judge present. i did feel a part of that team. we've all worked hard together and we will continue to do that. but we simply must do something about the proliferation of guns. i know that seems simple. >> congresswoman, it seems like because of the fact that police

also state, again, that the suspect wanted to kill white people, especially white officers, they also say the suspect stated he was not affiliated with any group, and he said that he did this alone. however, he also told a hostage negotiator he was upset about the black lives matter movement. this all happening at the point of where about 800 protesters were in a peaceful march, and they were gathering at the end of it. this week, though, we have seen these deadly force videos, lethal force administered by police officers in louisiana and now in minnesota. and here we are at this intersection of now this would be considered a mass killing. we're waiting to find out more information about this, and the suspect being identified as micah alexander. micah xavier johnson. and we'll find out more details about how he acquired his

weapons. but this is another new intersection for our country. moving into a mass killing now specifically targeting officers who this person felt what was at fault and culpable. because of other people that wear blue, and police communities in our country. >> you know, all you have to do is review the earlier part of the year, and years leading to this year to see that especially young men of color, we have seen the -- the videos around the country where they have been slaughtered by police officers. it still does not make me think that every police officer is of that caliber. but i do think that we must deal with those individual officers. at the same time, we must use deescalation and education in

the training of our police officers, to build these relationships in the community. these are peace officers. they are not at war. and that has not had the impression of many of our young, especially young african-american and latino males around the country. they don't get that attitude by seeing these videos. they're not listening, or are they aware of the training, the improvement in techniques. we a have tried very hard in congress to even stop war weapons going to police departments. bus it is not congruent. war is one thing, these are peace officers, in our community. >> part of our social contract, and, you know, the police forces we have in this country are among the best. and have certainly been well-respected over the years. and that respect has been challenged. by certain instances we've had to report on, unfortunately, about situations that have escalated to fatal losses.

and congresswoman eddie bernice johnson, we will let you get back to work. i know you have of a busy day. i thank you for your time and we wish you and your family and the folks in the dallas nothing but the best, as you're going to start the healing process through this. >> thank you very much. hundreds of protesters marching against police brutality, which bore witness to the horrific shooting of these officers last night. five of which died. up next, what one man saw in his own words. stay with us. >> i'm just trying to get home, so i don't get hurt like somebody else. >> this has been an emotional night. >> i'm tired of waking up every morning and seeing the same thing over and over and over again.

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so as we learn more about the tragedy in dallas, the organizer of last night's peaceful protest spoke with our own gabe gutierrez about the horror he witnessed firsthand.

take a listen. >> this rally was intended to give folks a space to express their anger, express their grief, to network with each other. it was peaceful, it was nonviolent. westerly working with police. police were commenting on how peaceful and nonviolent the protest was. we go back down to the old courthouse here in dallas, and we turn around, and we were in the last stretch. i mean, the protest was ending. and i'm standing there right there, with a sergeant from the police department. and we had just been talking about how peaceful this protest was. and then all of a sudden, baaa, baaa, baaa baaa baaa, baaa, baaa. and i look up and i saw what i believe were two police officers drop. >> reporter: right in front of you. >> it was close enough to where my reaction was to grab my stomach and grab my chest because i wanted to make sure i hadn't been shot. we all want to know how

something so beautiful could turn so evil, so quickly. and by the end of the night, i found myself after doing an interview, just sitting there crying with my head in my hands, and just devastated. i mean, this was a nonviolent, peaceful protest, intended to bring about a better world. and, you know, our goal was to combat violence. you can't combat violence with violence. i mean, we are nonviolent activists. and for this to be the mark of this protest, it's devastating for these families to be suffering. it's devastating. hi, everybody, i'm thomas roberts live from our msnbc head quarters in new york. we follow breaking news out of dallas, the shootings that killed five officers and left a suspected gunman dead. and in just the last few minutes, nbc news has confirmed the dead suspect is 25-year-old micah xavier johnson, a source

says johnson is from the dallas area. now police also say he was upset over the deadly police shootings in louisiana and minnesota. and we just found out a brief time ago, attorney general loretta lynch is set to address the incident this hour. we'll bring that live. the shooting from dallas left several police officers and two civilians wounded. cell phone video captures the terrifying barrage of gunfire. >> somebody is really armed to the t. this is not -- this is not one person. [ gunfire ] >> this is a person with -- this is a person with a big mac -- >> it's a sniker from up here somewhere. >> it's a sniper? >> get down, get down. >> just started shooting all of the cops getting shot. i just saw cops bending over. it had to have been like five or six cops getting shot down. >> so the only identified gunman

is micah xavier johnson, who is dead. there are three other suspects in police custody. this morning, the dallas police chief revealed what the deceased suspect said during negotiations. but said those talks eventually broke down and that's when police september in a robot with a bomb attached that killed him. >> other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. the suspect is deceased. as a result of detonating the bomb. the suspect said he was upset about black lives matter. he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. the suspect said he was upset at white people. the suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. the suspect