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Latest Information on Dallas Police Shootings; Gunman Cornered in Parking Garage. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 08, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue following the breaking news out of Dallas, Texas.
I'm George Howell.
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW CO-HOST: And I'm Natalie Allen. Welcome to our viewers. We're live in Atlanta this hour.
And we have live video now for you from Dallas, Texas, where people and police are still in a standoff at that garage in downtown at this hour.
This horrific attack that has gripped Dallas, Texas, has been going on for hours now. Four police officers have been shot dead after at least two snipers fired from an elevated position ambush style during a peaceful protest.
Dallas police say this is still an active shooting situation and they are now negotiating with that suspect cornered in a garage. Three people are now in custody.
HOWELL: In total, 11 officers were shot and at least one civilian was wounded. I want you to listen here what it sounded like from a nearby apartment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. There's people lying on the ground. I hope they're just hiding, (muted).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody is armed. Somebody is really armed to the teeth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not -- this is not one person. This is a person with...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A person with a big...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: This shooting happened as marchers were ending their protests, protesting the death of two African-American men this week elsewhere in the U.S. at the hands of police officers. Chaos on the ground spread as gunfire rang out.
HOWELL: Just look at that video. I mean, you see so many people just running for their lives after hearing all of these gunshots. Police officers say a bomb squad has secured a suspicious package and they have three people in custody, including a woman.
Earlier, the Dallas police chief spoke to the media.
ALLEN: And this is how he described the active shooting situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE CHIEF: The suspect that we are negotiating with that has exchanged gunfire with us over the last 45 minutes has told our negotiators that the end is coming, and he's 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.
So, we are being very careful in our tactics so that we don't injure or put any of our officers in harm's way and including the citizens of Dallas as we negotiate further.
We still don't have a complete comfort level that we have all the suspects. So, we will continue a very, very rigorous investigation and search of downtown. We're likely to be working throughout the early morning hours of Friday.
Until we are satisfied that all suspects have been captured. And have the opportunity to be interviewed so that we can fully understand what's motivated this attack on our officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: David Brown, the police chief speaking a while back. Let's bring in CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore. He joins he me live from Los Angeles. Steve, thank you for being with us.
STEVE MOORE, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Sure.
ALLEN: This was the end of a peaceful protest and is suddenly police are targeted, they're ambushed, they're shot up. What does this sound like to you?
MOORE: Well, it sounds like an attack by a fringe group or somebody who is not well who has found other people who are not well that -- who decide to engage in vigilante just, which is an oxymoron.
[03:04:52] It -- I believe just based on how much -- the logistics that would be required for this that this might have been something that had been planned not for this night, not for this occasion, but planned after previous police killing controversies and put into action very quickly after last night's stuff.
ALLEN: Yes. Because it was just -- if there are bombs, these bombs were made and perhaps put around downtown Dallas. It almost seems like it was done so quickly, it certainly wasn't amateurish, that's for sure, for these people to carry out something like this and so many police officers shot.
There were 100 officers on hand. I agree, and we've been talking about in the newsroom was this something that was the result of just this protest? It doesn't sound like it.
What does it sound to you as far as the weaponry that they had and the fact that they ambushed police and they were targeting police?
MOORE: It, again, sounds like -- you know, the problem we've been having in America is what a certain minute percentage of police officers have been doing, which has tarnished everything, just tarnished law enforcement around the country.
This is, I believe, not an organized group who are protesting this. This is a fringe unstable group of individuals no different than, say, the Ku Klux Klan who just decided that they were going to engage in their own vigilante justice.
This is less terrorism than it is simply a hate crime, an organized hate crime. People had to be driven there, they had to be dropped off, they had to scout it, they had to know where things were and they had to have ammunition and weapons ready.
ALLEN: Steve Moore, former FBI and our law enforcement contributor, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate your thoughts.
HOWELL: We are also getting some new information here into the CNN Newsroom. According to Dallas police tweeting out this information, about a fifth officer has now died.
So, again, five police officers killed in the line of duty this day. This is the tweet from the Dallas Police Department. It has been a devastating night. We are sad to report a fifth officer has died.
ALLEN: Certainly absolutely is just devastating. And the fact that the police chief could come out and address reporters and talk so eloquently as he did, when you've got to know that they are struggling losing their own, dealing with these families and trying to save lives at the same time.
It's just -- and we earlier this evening we were saying how many? No, just four. Oh, four.
HOWELL: Yes.
ALLEN: That's more than anything. Now it's five. And we are -- of course, our thoughts are with those who are in critical condition. HOWELL: It's been a difficult several days. I mean, you know, you
keep in mind there have been so many Americans who have been, you know, heartbroken by the police involved shootings that have happened. And now we're hearing about the deaths of these officers. It's terrible.
ALLEN: One of the protest organizers and a marcher talk about Thursday's chaos. They say it was a peaceful protest until those shots rang out.
HOWELL: I think we have some trouble getting to that audio. We have it now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORY HUGHES, PROTEST ORGANIZER: We've done protests before and they've all been peaceful, they've all gone smoothly with no issues. And so, we didn't expect anything to happen this time. You know, we came out, there were blacks, whites, Latinos, everybody. There was a mixed community here protesting and this just came out of nowhere.
As a matter of fact, we were towards the end of the protest when the shots started firing off. And it was -- I'm still kind of startled and shaken up. Because as you know being in the front, it's almost like the gunshots were coming at us.
It was complete pandemonium. And actually I knew a couple of guys that were -- that had guns on them, you know, the rifles, and I found them and told them, hey, put that gun up, give it to a cop because I don't want you to accidentally be mistake for the person that's shooting. So, it's been -- it's just been this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know when I turned the corner up there, I heard upwards of a dozen gunshots. I ask you the same thing.
HUGHES: I would say probably about 20 gunshots in rapid succession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was walking right next to one of the officers who was helping us with the protest and all of a sudden, I saw and heard six to eight shots. It looked like two officers went down. I didn't have time to get a good look.
I ran back and I was screaming run, run, run, active shooter, run, run, run and, you know, then they told us that there was -- you know, it still was an active shooter. So, we felt like, you know, at any moment you can see bullets come off the parking garage.
[03:10:05] HOWELL: What a chaotic, terrifying night for the people there in Dallas, and a painful time for these families that are getting word again, that a fifth officer was now killed in the line of duty.
Let's now bring in Tyler Sieswerda in Dallas, a Dallas resident there and former news anchor in the State of Texas. Tyler, it's good to have you with us. So, you are just four blocks away from this standoff. You live in that neighborhood there in downtown. What are you seeing? What are you hearing?
TYLER SIESWERDA, DALLAS RESIDENT: It's eerily quiet tonight, George, on the streets down below my building, although there are many roads blocked off still with a fire and ambulance keeping things clamped down here.
They've told us to stay off the streets and for obvious reasons with this standoff continuing only four blocks behind me. You see the building with the green neon on it; it's just right next to that building where all of this happened. It's very sad, especially now that we know a fifth officer has died tonight. So, it would be this close to everything.
HOWELL: So, you know, we hear from police, Tyler, that you know, they're not confident that they have all of the suspects. You know, they think there may be still people at large and they're also concerned about the possibility that there could be bombs place, planted throughout the downtown Dallas area.
So, what are the authorities telling you and what are they telling people who live there in downtown?
SIESWERDA: Well, I think that's the reason they've not only said, you know, to stay away from that area, but they've said to stay inside. Because these don't know where these -- where these devices, if there are any, could have been left.
As you mentioned, I'm four blocks away from where this happened. Now, this protest started in the same place where the shooting happened tonight, and it came up my direction and wrapped around my building.
So, I was actually able to watch it come up and then I watched it directly below my apartment as it went past. So, there was a huge police presence guiding these people through this route.
It just breaks my heart to know that potentially one of those officers that I saw keeping a watch on these people and stopping traffic is one of the ones who was injured or killed tonight.
HOWELL: Indeed. If you could just paint the pictures for our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world of what you saw and what you heard. So, you say it started as that peaceful protest then the moments to come. What all did you see?
SIESWERDA: Yes, it was. It was a very peaceful protest. It stretched, I would say, just estimate around maybe 800 people or so. It was a large group and they were chanting Black Lives Matter as they marched pass. It was very loud, it was very vocal but there were people of every color and ethnic background that you could see in this group marching side by side around downtown Dallas.
And, you know, it was, it's sad to think that what began as a peaceful protest has ended like this. Only four blocks away after I saw these people go past. And it's not only the police, as well. It's all the other people who were there who ran for cover. Your heart just goes out to them tonight, as well. HOWELL: Tyler Sieswerda, Dallas resident and journalist who lives in
that neighborhood, four blocks away from where all of this happened. Tyler, thank you for your time. We wish you safety and others there in that neighborhood. We'll stay in touch with you. Thank you.
We continue to follow the breaking news here on CNN. Parts of Dallas, Texas, under siege as snipers killed five police officers.
Up next, we'll hear from an eye witness who watched it all happen from his hotel. Stay with CNN.
[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. And this is your Road to Rio update.
Thousands of Rio residents protesting the enormous price tag of the Olympics. The Brazilian city is spending millions on the games, millions of protesters say would be better spent on things like public services or suffering up the deep austerity cuts. A lot of that money going towards security, of course.
Brazil's defense minister said the country would meet all of the international Olympic committee requirements will say (Inaudible).
Some 27,000 troops and national public security forces are part of the security efforts.
Brazil's athletes will be ready for the games, they'll clad in these just revealed parade uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Brazil Olympic Committee says the uniforms are designed to reflect the country's nature and diversity.
One U.S. athlete is making history with her Olympic attire. The 30- year-old fencer will be the first woman on team USA to wear a hijab when she competes. And hopes wearing her hijab only encourage other minorities to pursuit their Olympic dreams.
And that is your Road to Rio update. I'm Michael Holmes.
HOWELL: We continue following the breaking news here on CNN. A crime scene, active scene still in Dallas, Texas. Police say snipers shot 11 officers during what started as peaceful demonstrations.
Right now, there is no indication the shooters were associated with that protest. But at this point we know the death toll has risen now. Five officers shot have died.
ALLEN: We learned about the fifth death during this hour. Police say they are negotiating with the suspect holed up in a downtown parking garage associated with the college there.
There was a gun fight with that suspect, who claims there are bombs planted all over the area. Three people are in custody.
HOWELL: Some context here in background. The marchers were demonstrating after police in Minnesota and Louisiana killed two African-American men this week. Two witnesses described the chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right above right here at around about 30 minutes ago, an officer was shot dead with an automatic AR-15. The officer was right here behind this college and then the police officer tried to sneak up on the -- of the -- surveilling or whatever you want to call it.
He missed the dude. The dude snoop around him and shot him with an AR. He emptied the whole clip in the police officer's chest. We live out here in Dallas. Live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I saw this with my eye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's only turns around trying to shoot him, he got hit, boom, boom, boom, he kept going. Boom (muted) she fail, she got up and kept running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Oh, my goodness. Ismael de Jesus was inside his hotel in downtown in Dallas when he heard the gunfire and started recorded what they just described. He told CNN's Don Lemon of what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISMAEL DE JESUS, EYEWITNESS: A man had a rifle, AR-15 clear as day. Pretty big magazine. And you could see towards the end of the video here, he goes and drops a few mags.
(CROSSTALK)
DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT SHOW HOST: This is him behind the railing. This is him behind the railing next to the column, correct?
DE JESUS: Yes, this is him right here to the right of that white pillar, you know, shooting to the left, goes heads turns around, shoots to the right. Shoots on the other side of the pillar.
[03:20:07] He obviously he was shooting at something and aiming at somebody. Then he turned around, checked his back makes sure there's no one coming. But the officer did come across the right side of the screen to that pillar to the right and try to take him one-on-one in the fire fight and it didn't -- it didn't end very well. And it was very tragic.
LEMON: And that's the officer getting shot right there?
DE JESUS: No. I didn't -- I didn't get a video of the officer getting shot. That is the officer down right there, it was the --it looked like an execution honestly. He stood over him after he was already down. Shot him maybe three or four more time in the back. So, at that point, I didn't know if he was in front dead or anything
obviously. But he was down for about five more minutes until anybody can come and get to him.
HOWELL: How clearly could you -- how far away from the suspect were you and how clearly could you see him?
DE JESUS: I don't know. Maybe 50 yards.
HOWELL: What did he look like?
DE JESUS: Honestly, in the video, I don't know the exact skin color. I can't throw that out there. But he did have some tactical pants on. He had a tactical green shirt on. I just honestly don't know what race he was.
I can't, you know, just throw out a race out there. But it did look -- it did look planned. I mean, he just parked and he knew where to stand and open fire. He had arm already, he's really to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Video there by Ismael de Jesus. I'm bringing in now CNN law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander to talk more about this.
Cedric, so, it is important to point out, you know, there is a great deal of speculation about who could be behind this. But the truth of the matter is, we don't know.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, what we do now is that we have five police officers in Dallas dead and six injured. And throughout the course of the morning and the afternoon, I think we'll probably get more information.
But what's going to be critically important here, George, is that he's being hold up there in the parking garage as we know, and how that's going in we're going is yet to be determined. Who this person -- who this person or persons are involved is going to be in arresting as well.
Are they local that they come from somewhere else, are they terrorist, are they domestic, are they foreign? We can do a lot of speculating, but this is still very early in this investigation.
HOWELL: And I appreciate the fact that, you know, we're not doing the speculating. I fact, we're waiting to hear from officials...
ALEXANDER: That's right.
HOWELL: ... to find out who is behind it. But again, this active situation still happy happening.
ALEXANDER: That's correct.
ALLEN: The video that we just saw and the man describing and seeing that this officer was shot by this person many times. And we can see a grainy vision of a shooter. That does not look like an amateur. That doesn't look like someone that was just out to shoot somebody.
ALEXANDER: There's two reasons why it didn't look like amateur to me. The way that he moved around those columns and secondly, your witnesses at the top of your show who described his movements. And these were young men who described his movements. And his movements, in the way that they described them, appeared to be very fluid, as well, too.
Now that's a stretch, but I think it's important to consider this. We don't know who these subjects are, but they very well have been confident, well trained...
ALLEN: Confident, yes.
ALEXANDER: ...tactically capable of carrying out an attack against the whole police department. So, it's going to be interesting to see going forward.
HOWELL: You know, so, suggesting that there could be some planning involved here. Cedric, the two are not related as we know at this point, but keep in mind, you and I were talking about this before just about a year ago.
There was a person who went, you know, through downtown Dallas and shot up the police department. So, they dealt with this types of situations before in that downtown hub.
ALEXANDER: Yes, they have. And Dallas is a major community, it's a major city. But, you know, we live in a very, very different time. And still we don't know who these attackers were or who these killers are of these honorable servants in that community.
But our hearts and prayers go out to those police officers and that family and that entire community and to Dallas Police Department this morning.
ALLEN: And clearly, they were ambushed. This was planned to target police officer.
(CROSSTALK)
ALEXANDER: This was a murderous ambush. It's nothing short of that, and we're going to see how this is going to end this morning.
HOWELL: I want to ask you, Cedric, downtown Dallas, it is an important hub, as you mentioned. You know, and Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. So, tomorrow when it's time for business as usual, it won't be business as usual. It sure it is.
(CROSSTALK)
ALEXANDER: It won't be business as usual for that community.
HOWELL: Yes.
ALEXANDER: That community along with this country right now is watching this. So, that area of quite shooters will be cordoned off. The whole downtown area is going to be cordoned off for the safety of the citizens of the citizens and officers and those involved.
[03:25:08] But what we're looking at as the day grows closer for us, George, is that this is going to really be very suggestive of us, to us as a nation. And as a community. Is this the new normal for us? Because we don't know. In Orlando was tragic. San Bernardino was tragic. And I can go on and on just in this country alone.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Yes.
ALEXANDER: But these types of event are becoming very frequent in this country and we've got a lot of work to do.
ALLEN: I heard some reports there in Dallas that this area could be cordoned off for more than a day or more than a few days. And this is a major commercial area.
(CROSSTALK)
ALEXANDER: It's a huge crime scene. It is a huge crime scene. It is a huge crime scene and as you can see the stretched from blocks. But, here again, as morning continues to unfold we're going to learn more going forward.
ALLEN: Cedric -- Cedric Alexander, thank you.
ALEXANDER: Thank you.
ALLEN: Thank you for coming in.
Well, the standoff in Dallas continues between police and the suspect in the mass shooting of the officers. Stay with us. We'll have more for you of our breaking news coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS MAYOR: I ask everybody to focus on one thing right now and that is our Dallas police officers, their families, those that are deceased, those that are in the hospital fighting for their lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:30:11] HOWELL: The Mayor of Dallas, Texas, Mike Rawlings, the mayor calling this horrible attack heartbreaking.
Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue with the very latest we know from Dallas, Texas, at this hour.
And at this point, we know five police officers are dead, six others wounded. This after at least two snipers fired on them during a peaceful protest there in the city. Dallas police say this is still an active shooting situation at this
hour and they are still negotiating with the suspect cornered in a garage. That suspect is shooting at police and claims that bombs are plated throughout the downtown Dallas area.
ALLEN: This shooting happened as hundreds -- you see them here about 800 people were protesting, a peaceful protests the death of two African-American men this week at the hands of police.
It happens elsewhere in the U.S. that Dallas was showing solidarity and this is what happened. All of a sudden, shots were first heard there in Dallas. Police say they have three people in custody. One of them is a woman. They wouldn't say anything more about who is in custody.
And we're about to show dramatic video of the shooting in downtown Dallas as it began to unfold. The video was shot by Michael Kevin and shows police running with guns pulled out.
HOWELL: So, you can hear more of the gunshots toward the end of the video, you will actually see an officer on the ground, so we do want to warn our viewers as we now play video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (muted). Holy (muted).
MICHAEL KEVIN, EYEWITNESS: They're shooting right now and there's an officer down. It's coming from the right over there, from around these buildings. I don't know where -- Main Street and Lamar. This is Main Street and Lamar. There's an officer down. They're moving in on somebody. I think they might have got somebody.
Don't worry. I'm behind a -- I'm behind a tree. I think another officer is down around the corner over here. They got SWAT over here. I can't really -- I can't really get any closer. I'm safe, man. Don't worry about it. I appreciate it, though. I love you all.
So, they just dragged one of the officers up in this police car right here to get their attention. And there's somebody else down over there. If you can see around this corner. I don't know if you guys can see that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of there. Get out of there. Get out of there.
KEVIN: They're telling me to go. I've got to go. I got everything, man. I got everything. All right. I'm going to have to switch over to another app because I've got to pay -- I've got to get my bosses in on this, all right? I love you all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Just a man standing there with his iPhone getting incredible footage and seeing two officers down there.
Ashley Landis is a photographer for the Dallas Morning News. And she joins us now on the phone. Ashley, we're told that you're just a couple of blocks away from the scene. What's going on there now that you can see?
ASHLEY LANDIS, DALLAS MORNING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER: Right now, you know, it's -- they've pushed us back quite a bit. But right now, there's still a lot of officers downtown. A lot of police cars, a lot of streets that are closed, a lot of people -- well, their cars, anyway, stranded.
HOWELL: Ashley, I want to bring up the cover of the Dallas Morning News. I want to show viewers what they will see in the morning. "Ambush."
[03:35:03] That's the way this was described on these officers, snipers triangulating their attack, firing ambush style, some officers shot in the back. Heard the police chief.
ALLEN: And unfortunately, it's not current now, that there are five dead.
HOWELL: That's true.
LANDIS: Right.
HOWELL: Yes, looking that headline that's changed. But I wanted to ask you just, you know, given what you saw, kind of explain to us are the streets disserted at this point and is there a sense that downtown Dallas will be closed off for some time?
LANDIS: I have that sense. If nothing else, for just the investigation. They've opened up a few streets now. And I think the exits on the highway is to get to downtown has been opened, but as far as where the shots were actually I have no idea how long it's going to be closed.
ALLEN: Ashley, were you there covering the protests earlier?
LANDIS: I was, yes.
ALLEN: What did you hear and see yourself? When did everyone in the crowd realize something has gone horribly wrong?
LANDIS: They marched towards the old courthouse and they had a -- they stopped for a moment there I think for everyone to catch up and they turned back towards the east.
And I was about middle of the pack and all of a sudden, I saw a bunch of people running back towards me. And at that point I think that something had happened that I didn't know if it was -- you know, you always hope it's not something so bad. But -- sorry.
ALLEN: I understand.
HOWELL: It's OK. I know it's been a long couple of hours.
LANDIS: It has. You hear a lot of people, you know, a lot of people turned around I just don't know what it is, and so I did hear gunshots at first, but then -- but then I went down the block and I could hear them.
HOWELL: Ashley, give us a sense of what people were saying after this happened. Obviously, this started as a protest against two deadly police-involved shootings, people, you know, frustrated with, you know, the fact that that has been happening so many times.
But now seeing that this happened, now seeing that five police officers lost their lives in the line of duty, what are you hearing from folks on the ground there about what happened in your city.
LANDIS: I mean, you hear -- you hear eyewitness account and you hear, you know, what people saw and how people reacted. But at this point I think everyone is just is in emotionary reactionary mode.
HOWELL: Right.
LANDIS: You know, everyone initially was looking for their loved ones and just trying to figure out where everybody was because there was a lot of chaos to start with.
ALLEN: Well, we'll certainly be looking for your pictures as you were there documenting this for the Dallas Morning News, and we really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. We know this is a difficult time, a difficult night for you and a very long night, Ashley Landis. Thank you, Ashley. Take care.
HOWELL: Be safe, Ashley. Thank you for your time.
CNN continues following the breaking news. Today, parts of Dallas, Texas, under siege as snipers kill several police officers.
Next, the latest developments and analysis with our law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore. This is CNN.
[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Updating our breaking news, sniper shooting 11 police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five and it's not over.
HOWELL: Police have three suspects in custody, but have been negotiating and exchanging gunfire with another one. That suspect presently hold up in a parking garage saying, quote, "the end is near," and claiming that there are bombs in downtown Dallas.
One monitoring group says this has been the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the terror attacks of 9/11.
ALLEN: It all started, the shooting started towards the end of this right here, a peaceful protest in Dallas, in downtown Dallas after two African-American men were killed by police in other parts of the country. Here are some of the firsthand accounts. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGHES: Blacks, whites, Latinos. There was a mixed community here protesting and this came out of nowhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody is really armed to the teeth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not -- this is not one person.
HUGHES: This just came out of nowhere. As a matter of fact, we were towards the end of the protests...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
HUGHES: ... when the shots started firing off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back. Get back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go! Get back! Back!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: get back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, I saw and heard six to eight shots. It looked like two officers went down. I didn't have time to get a good look. I ran back and I was screaming, run, run, run, active shooter, active shooter!
(POLICE CAR SIREN)
RAWLINGS: Let's all come together and support our police officers. Please, let's come together right now as a city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Let's bring in CNN law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander to talk more about this. Cedric, so let's put it into context, you know, for the past several days many Americans have been heartbroken from that graphic video showing a deadly police-involved shootings in Minnesota and in Louisiana.
An investigation underway in both of those cases, but now we're seeing this on television. We're seeing this live and in person for people there in Dallas. Five police officers who died in the line of duty.
ALEXANDER: Tragic, tragic, hurtful to that community there in Dallas and, of course, to this entire country. And can we draw any correlation between the other two shootings and what occurred with those officers tonight? We don't know yet. But I think as the day go on, we're going to learn more.
[03:44:57] But let me say this. We certainly live in a very, very different time. And if we go back, if we look at very recent events from Bangladesh to Baghdad, and then right here in this country, both San Bernardino and Orlando, most recent to this event in this country, it certainly does create a great deal of pause.
But where this attack come from, we don't know yet, and we don't know whether it had anything to do with the events that took place in Minneapolis or Louisiana or is this some other attack that may occur tonight that for some other reasons.
(CROSSTALK)
HOWELL: And it's important, it's just important to make that point because we don't know if the suspects in this case are related to the protest or not or related to some of the group or not, we don't know at this point. So, the best we can do is wait for officials to give us the descriptions and the backgrounds on the people that they're dealing with.
ALLEN: And they say they planted bombs. They don't know that yet. They have a lot of investigating to do and with someone at large engaging with someone, it's going to be a while in this investigation.
ALEXANDER: Right. And they're certainly going to take those bomb threats seriously. We're talking about persons here, whoever orchestrated this attack. It appeared to have been planned. They appeared to may have had some experience or training. So, the reality of some bombs being there could very well be possible.
So, they're going to secure those areas, they're going to take their time and quite sure and go through every inch, every block of that community to render it safe, as you heard Chief Brown mentioned earlier tonight.
So, there's a very large crime scene there. It is still a very active crime scene with an active shooter that's being hold up there in the parking lot of the El Centro Community College.
So, I hope our prayers go out to the family of those officers, to those slain officers who are courageous and diligent in duties tonight. And I think that's something that we need to know, as well, too. That those officers who lost their lives and those that are wounded and to all officers that responded to that call tonight are courageous individuals and we cannot overlook that throughout this entire...
ALLEN: Absolutely.
ALEXANDER: ... piece.
ALLEN: Absolutely. Cedric Alexander, thanks again for joining us.
ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.
HOWELL: Cedric, thank you.
ALLEN: You're watching breaking news here on CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. And this is your Road to Rio update.
Thousands of Rio residents protesting the enormous price tag of the Olympics. The Brazilian city is spending millions on the games, millions of protesters say would be better spent on things like public services or suffering up the deep austerity cuts. A lot of that money going towards security, of course.
Brazil's defense minister said the country would meet all of the international Olympic committee requirements will say (Inaudible).
Some 27,000 troops and national public security forces are part of the security efforts.
Brazil's athletes will be ready for the games, they'll clad in these just revealed parade uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Brazil Olympic Committee says the uniforms are designed to reflect the country's nature and diversity.
One U.S. athlete is making history with her Olympic attire. The 30- year-old fencer will be the first woman on team USA to wear a hijab when she competes. And hopes wearing her hijab only encourage other minorities to pursuit their Olympic dreams.
And that is your Road to Rio update. I'm Michael Holmes.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: Welcome back to our U.S. viewers and all around the world.
I want to update you on the breaking news we're following here on CNN this day called the deadliest for law enforcement in the U.S. since the terror attacks of 9/11.
Police say snipers targeted officers killing five of them in Dallas, Texas on Thursday. This as crowds protested allege police brutality in the United States. Six other officers were wounded.
ALLEN: It is not clear how many attackers were there, but the police chief says downtown Dallas is still an active crime scene. And one gunman is cornered right now in a parking garage.
Police say he is shooting at them and claims bombs are planted throughout the city. Three other people are in custody.
We heard some emotional words from the Dallas Mayor earlier.
HOWELL: He spoke alongside the police chief who has been giving updates about the situation. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAWLINGS: It is a heartbreaking morning to lose these four officers that proudly severed our citizens. To say police that our officers put their lives on the line every day is no hyperbole, ladies and gentlemen, it's a reality.
We, as a city, we, as a country, must come together and lock arms and heal the wounds that we all feel from time to time. Words matter. Leadership matters at this time. I'm proud of our chief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Important to point out now that five police officers are dead, updating from that sound we heard earlier.
ALLEN: Well, let's bring CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore, he joins us again from Los Angeles.
HOWELL: So, Steve, just, you know, your thoughts given where we are right now an active situation, standoff still, you know, underway. And five police officers killed in the line of duty.
MOORE: It's crushing. And right now we have to -- we have to resist jumping to conclusions. As in this situation, we have to give the protesters and the people who might be wrongly blamed for this, we have to give them the same benefit of the doubt that we ask for policemen who are involved in these kinds of shootings.
And right now I have to tell you, I've never been more proud to be in law enforcement just watching what these police officers did. I think the crucial thing right now is to resolve the situation with that one gunman.
If for one reason you have to find out if there are others. It could be that you have one or two snipers who you think you've got them all. And there might be another one still out there and moving.
So, this is a time not of relaxing but of finishing up. And it's not even mop up. It is ensuring that your situation is over.
ALLEN: Yes. And I just want to get your opinion on the gunshots that we heard, Steve, being fired over and over and over again. You know more than us, you know, how much fire power that was.
MOORE: That was -- that was an immense amount of high caliber ammunition going down range. That was -- that was at least an AR-15. And the number of shots that were being fired in exchange, you could tell the difference in the tone between the AR and the pistol shots going back and forth.
[03:55:11] The AR can reach out and get you a 100 yards away when you're not even in range, accurate range with your pistol. So, it was terrifying to me to hear these kind of heavy rounds echoing in a downtown area. HOWELL: The simple fact, you know, again that we know again the six,
you know, officers were wounded, that five are dead. We know that in the next couple of hours, if not already, there are families throughout the DFW metroplex that are learning their loved ones will not be coming home.
MOORE: It's heartbreaking. I have a brother-in-law who is a uniformed officer in Texas. I've got a cousin who is a uniformed man in Virginia. I cannot imagine having to call their wives and say they're not coming home.
This is -- this is something that law enforcement officers, FBI agents, every type of law enforcement agency, they put on the uniforms every day they go out. And there's so much that people don't realize. You sometimes just don't know when they're coming back.
ALLEN: That's very true. It is a very, very dangerous job. And we certainly saw that unfold in front of so many people there in Dallas.
Thanks again for joining us, Steve. We appreciate it.
HOWELL: And thank you for being with us here on CNN. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. More coverage of the shootings just ahead. We will CNN USA for Early Start with Christine Romans and Boris Sanchez. Thanks for watching.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
