we're hiring. >> and matt gutman with us live from dallas again tonight. and matt, authorities do believe the gunman used his military training? >> reporter: that's right, david. he did use that military training. but authorities also telling us that he was self-taught, apparently practicing bomb detonation and those tactical drills in his own backyard. david? >> matt gutman with us from dallas. >>> and with much of the nation debating the injustices caught on cell phones in so many communities, and yet, the horrific targeting of those officers in dallas, tonight, one mother, who is speaking out for both sides. she was at that peaceful protest when she was shot, and tonight, she is grateful to those officers. abc's martha raddatz in dallas. >> reporter: shetamia taylor took her sons to the march for this reason. >> i wanted to show them that there could be a peaceful march. >> reporter: but just as they were leaving, that peace shattered. >> it was hundreds of rounds. i had never heard anything like that before. >> i was praying for my brothers and my mom.

abc's matt gutman is in mexico on the migrant trail. >> this is the bridge over the river. >> reporter: the river that separates mexico and guatemala. >> this is the legal way to do it. if you have papers. >> reporter: at the bridge, the only official border crossing for miles. we're tracing the first and one of the most dangerous stretches of the migrant trail. traveled mostly by central americans trying to escape the brutal gang violence back home. a few blocks from the bridge we meet edwin and jose. they come from el salvador, the murder capital of the world. they're beginning their second attempt to reach the u.s. the uncertain road ahead is more appealing than the horrors they're leaving behind. he says the situation in el salvador is very bad. violence, poverty. there's nothing there. like most central americans fleeing their homeland, they will cross into mexico illegally. no passports among the treasured belongings in those tiny backpacks. jose wears his reason for flight on his back and his arms. he shows us the nickel-sized scars from a shotgun blast. he says, thank god the g

here's abc's matt gutman. >> phelps is going to win it! >> reporter: in a career defined by monumental numbers, that modest five may be most meaningful to michael phelps. he's now the first american male to make five olympic swim teams, phelps appeared to surprise himself. >> i think just with everything that's happened, sort of being able to come back, that was probably harder than any swim i've had in my life. >> reporter: it's a long way since his olympic debut in the 2000 sydney games. just 15 years old. in athens, he wracked up six golds. in beijing, he became the official golden child. >> history in beijing for michael phelps! >> reporter: but among the record 18 golds are other numbers. two duis. and suspensions -- one after he admitted to smoking marijuana. phelps went to rehab, transforming his attitude and his life. the best feeling, he says? not holding those medals, but his newborn son, boomer. cheering on his dad with those american flag ear muffs. matt gutman, abc news, los angeles. >> we'll be cheering him on, too. thanks fo

this morning we're on the migrant trail with matt gutman. >> reporter: we meet edwin and jose. they come from elle value va doer. this is their second attempt to meet the u.s. he says the situation is very bad. violence, poverty. there's nothing there. like most central americans fleeing their homeland, they will cross into mexico illegally. jose shows us the nickel-sized scars from a shotgun blast. he says thank god the gangs didn't kill me because they tried. when migrants are across the river they enter what human rights advocates call a death trap. mexican authorities are sweeping up migrants in record numbers before they even reach the u.s. most are deported, but mexico enforcing its own immigration laws more than ever has created another crisis. with bandits and human traffickers preying on migrants looking for ways to get north. edwin and jose disappear over the river bank and we rush through the legal crossing on the bridge to try to catch up with them. traveling north through immigration check point after check point. eventually reaching a nearby shelter, a church-run

and abc's matt gutman is on the scene now with more. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, ryan. that threat against the dallas police headquarters behind me turned out to be a false alarm but with snipers, police snipers up on the rooftops, with s.w.a.t. teams desending here scanning for a possible gunman it certainly felt like the real thing and showed how on edge this city still is. overnight, that new scare. a credible threat to the dallas police headquarters. barely 48 hours after their officers were targeted during that downtown protest, five were killed, now the police department's nerve center thought to be in the crosshairs. it's a very tense scene right now. there are officers with long guns running into the building. all around us there are snipers on the rooftops. officers with assault rifles. helicopters thundered overhead and reporters moved to safety. right now they're moving us back and farther back. see that parking garage on the other side there, we are too close. no suspect was found but that as we learn more

the most deadly day for law enforcement officers since matt gutman is right here in dallas tonight. >> reporter: this is the moment the peaceful protest dissolved into chaos. >> wait, wait, wait, wait. >> reporter: downtown dallas. just before 9:00 p.m. hundreds of people racing for their lives. screams and the sound of gunfire. some hide behind cars, a woman runs, pushing a baby carriage. officers, guns drawn, shuttling so many to safety. >> please, over there, come on! >> reporter: they were the protectors but also the targets. >> code three, officer down, shots fired, officer down. >> get back! >> reporter: police taking cover behind buildings, trucks. the gunshots, relentless. but where were they coming from? >> we've got a guy with a long rifle. we don't where the hell he's at. >> reporter: as the horror unfolded, >> there's a cop down? >> yes. four. >> four? >> reporter: it seemed like a coordinated team of snipers. >> we believe the suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches in garages in the downtown area. >> repor

matt gutman on scene. >> reporter: new details of the shooter's plan and his delusion coming into focuscluding plans for a far more devastating plot than thursday's ambush. >> the suspect had been practicing explosive detonations and that the materials were such that it was large enough to have devastating effects throughout our city and our north texas area. >> reporter: micah johnson lived in this middle class home where they found bomb making materials, guns and a journal. >> in the journal are the take into accounts he employed in killing people. >> reporter: he killed 14 people at a black lives matter protest. >> was the black lives matter protest a target of opportunity? did it hasten his plan? >> they were amassing at that scene, he knew, and he used it as an opportunity to shoot. >> reporter: that's what he lead leapfrogging intersections and at about 9:00 p.m. opening fire from a sniper's perch in this parking garage. officers below were easy targets. officials saying johnson an army vet used his military training, five officers losing their lives. we know police dropped him on

we begin our team coverage with abc's matt gutman in dallas. >> reporter: tonight as squads of fbi agents scour downtown dallas for evidence -- investigators asking the public for video showing panic. >> oh [ bleep ]. >> people barricading the door at a mcdonald's and this man was right there. >> when that first officer went down led me to believe the shots were from an elevated angle. >> the shooting lasted minutes and the standoff hours. s.w.a.t. teams on the second floor of this college. finally sending in a robot with a bomb killing him. ten miles away. agents hold evidence from the suspect's home friday. johnson was an army vet returning from a tour in afghanistan in 2014 having battled allegations of sexual harassment against an officer. his lawyer told abc news an employer said he worked at a company called touch of kindness providing home care to disabled people. johnson cared for his little brother. >> the suspect stated he wants to kill white people especially white officers. >> his facebook page revealed some rage and liked the page which said kill everything blue that moves. t

here's matt gutman with new details. >> reporter: tonight, new details of the shooter's plan and his delusion coming into focus. including plans for a far more devastating plot than thursday's ambush. >> the suspect had been practicing explosive detonations, and that the materials were such that it was large enough to have devastating effects throughout our city and our north texas area. >> reporter: micah johnson lived in this middle class home, where the fbi found an arsenal of bomb making materials, guns, and a journal. >> in this journal are the tactics he employed in killing people. >> reporter: johnson shot 14 people at a peaceful black lives matter protest thursday. was it just a target of opportunity? did that seem to hasten his plan? >> he knew police would be amassing at that scene. and he used it as an opportunity to shoot. >> reporter: finally, about 9:00 p.m., opening fire from a sniper's perch in this parking garage. officers below hemmed in by protesters, were easy targets. police saying johnson, an army vet, used his military training during that ambush. five officers

we have team coverage this morning and we do begin with abc's matt gutman on the ground in downtown dallas. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, paula. that fear and heroism was intensified by the fact that that night officials here in the city were convinced they were under siege by an unknown number of gunmen. now that they know it was a lone gunman they're focused on investigating how he did this and patching the city back together. >> oh, it's a sniper from up here somewhere. >> it's a sniper? >> this morning as agents combed the streets for evidence they're learning pore about the gunman. >> there was confusion with everybody running around but this was a mobile shooter. >> reporter: blasting away shortly after this peaceful demonstration in dallas on thursday. as the gunfire ricochets hundreds scatter. some hide between cars. a woman runs pushing a baby carriage. as police lunge for cover and trying to find the shooter they started to go down. >> code three, officer down. shots fired. officer down. >> we got a guy with a long rifle. we don't know where the hell he's at. >>

but first let's begin with matt gutman bringing us the latest in the investigation. matt, you've been here since right after the shooting. what's the latest with the shooter? >> the latest with the shooter is that the investigators have been in his house. they believe that he was capable and possibly willing to have executed a far more devastating attack here in this city. they found bombmaking material, a small cache of weapons and large cache of app nix in the house and fbi is trying to piece the chronology together made complicated by the sheer scale of the crime scene. we saw shell casings that were hundreds of yards away from where that shooter was finally killed and this is a three-pronged investigation by the fbi and the atf. first they have to investigate the attack itself. then investigate the police involved shooting. there were 12 officers who discharged their weapons and, of course, the use of that robot-borne bomb to neutralize the shooter at the very end of that shooting spree. >> first time that's ever been used as we know. "the dallas morning news" had

our matt gutman has the latest pictures. >> reporter: good morning, ginger.ls are calling the rain event triggering the flooding up precedented. it sent water surging through canals. at 30 miles an hour. rescues right outside las vegas. a ladder team pulling theeds to teenagers to safety after they found themselves stranded in a drainage canal. nevada besieged by thunderstorms on thursday. up to two inches of hail plankting the ground with what looked like snow in july. all of it generating epic flash floods. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: wreaking havoc on tourists. the quick-moving storms turning this intersection into white wooter rapids. >> i cannot believe this. >> reporter: trapping drivers. turning some parking lots into lag goons. the surge of water inundating canals. turning underpasses into water falls. >> oh, my god, oh, my god! >> reporter: debris crashing into cars. some water reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour. now, we talk about how much water was built up by the one key water detention area got 22 feet of water. that's higher than where i'm sta

our matt gutman has the latest pictures of what went on in the last 24 hours. matt?rter: hey, ginger. you mentioned that inch-plus of rain. that was a quarter of the total annual rainfall that came down if just about 15 minutes here, swamping roadways and canals like that one. the water flowing through places like this at up to 30 miles per hour. stranding cars. and forcing swift water rescues. overnight, rescues right outside las vegas. a ladder team pulling these two teenagers to safety after they found themselves stranded in a drainage canal. nevada besieged by thunderstorms on thursday. up to two inches of hail blanketing the ground with what looked like snow in july. all of it generating epic flash floods. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: wreaking havoc on tourists. the quick-moving storms turning this intersection into white water rapids. >> i cannot believe this. >> reporter: trapping drivers. turning some parking lots into lagoons. the surge of water inundating canals. turning underpasses into water falls. >> oh, my god, oh, my god! >> reporter: trash bins and deb

abc's matt gutman is on the scene in texas. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, george.hat's right, that family tearfully saying that the images that we saw of that merciless killer was not the son that they knew. meantime investigators are working on a crime scene that still spans over 12 city blocks, working to stitch together hundreds of hours of police body cam and dash cam video to figure out exactly how this happened. this morning, investigators working to piece together how the man you see in this chilling exclusive video managed to kill five officers. watch as he moves and fires, sparks flying as bullets ricochet off the pavement. we won't show you that officer gunned down. >> our plans are to date and timestamp the entire incident with all video footage available. >> reporter: downtown dallas, still a crime scene. dozens of yellow evidence tents surrounding the el centro college where the gunman micah johnson was finally cornered. >> we rescued eight people from a janitorial closet on the first floor. >> reporter: the s.w.a.t. team sending in this robot bearing

abc's matt gutman is on the scene for us, as well there in dallas. good morning, matt. >> reporter: good morning, robin. authorities are telling us that micah johnson acted alone, still they're picking through his cell phones and his laptop in order to determine whether anybody knew what he was planning. now authorities say that he had been writing in that journal you had mentioned, that he practiced bomb detonation and doing tactical drills in his backyard all in order to become what they call a killing machine. this morning, abc news learning that micah johnson had been planning an even more destructive attack on police for months. >> he was amassing the capabilities to do more mayhem than he did on that day. >> all: black lives matter! >> reporter: but police say he saw that black lives matter protest as a target of opportunity, one that he had been training for, taking self-defense courses and doing tactical drills in the backyard of his middle class home. authorities say he even detailed some of the training and planning in a journal. >> the pers

abc's mat out gutman is on the scene for us there in dallas as he has been all morning long. good morning, matt reporter: good morning, robin. that vicious attack as the president called it happened two box away from here. after a peaceful protest of black lives matter. at least one sniper took up his position at el centro college. firing down at those protesters, but specifically police, targeting police officers, white ones among them. that was his chief goal said the chief of police here, kill white officers. after a multiple-hour-long standoff police were able to neutralize by using a method of sending in a robot with a bomb. eventually they had to kill that man. this is still very much a city on edge this morning. robin, george. >> all right, matt, thanks so much. >>> the protest in dallas were sparked by those deadly police shootings in minnesota and los angeles. diamond reynolds live-streamed from her car where her boyfriend was shot. this morning, she spoke with gio benitez in minneapolis. good morning, gio. >> reporter: george, good morning. she's heartbroken over what happened to her