Dallas sniper Micah Xavier Johnson who told police he ‘wanted to shoot white cops’ before being blown up by robot carrying bomb in police siege is a former U.S. Army reservist
Violence followed Black Lives Matter protests called after the deaths of black men Philando Castile and Alton Sterling at the hands of police this week
A WARPED sniper who gunned down cops in cold blood was blown up by an explosives-packed bomb disposal robot.
Ex-US Army reservist Micah X Johnson, 25 — who served in Afghanistan — died in the showdown hours after five male officers were slain in Dallas, Texas.
Johnson, who had posed online doing a Black Power salute, told cops he had laced the city centre with explosives because he wanted to kill “white people, especially white officers”.
And he chillingly warned: “The end is coming.”
After he refused to deal with negotiators, police turned to the robot to keep other officers safe.
Last night three other suspects were still in custody after the massacre at the Black Lives Matter march at Belo Garden in Dallas. Seven other cops were injured, some critically.
Two civilians were also hurt, including a mum shot in the leg.
Last night Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said Johnson was thought to be a lone gunman.
He said: “We believe now that the city is safe and that the suspect is dead and we can move on to healing.”
Details were also emerging of Johnson’s creeping radicalisation, his growing fury with the US authorities and their treatment of black Americans.
His name is thought to be modelled on 1960s radical black American activist Malcolm X.
Photos on his Facebook page showed him posing with his fist raised in a distinctive Black Power salute, with another showing the Black Liberation flag.
A Twitter account under his name, set up in May, followed just six other accounts including the radical New Black Panther Party.
Last Saturday he posted: “Why do so many whites enjoy killing and participating in the death of innocent beings.”
Days before the massacre Johnson’s sister Nicole, 21, posted on Facebook: “White people have and will continue to kill us off. I for one think these cops need to get a taste of the life we now fear.”
Pictures of Johnson, who left the Army in 2015, showed him in military uniform while others appeared to show him in fatigues brandishing handguns with laser sights.
Officials say Johnson was a soldier in the US Army reserves from March 2009 to April 2015.
He was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and returned in July 2014 and was awarded the Army Achievement Medal.
Johnson had an assault rifle and a handgun and was wearing body armour when he died, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Cops who raided the home in the Dallas suburb Mesquite that he shared with his deeply religious mother Delphene found bomb making materials, rifles, bulletproof vests and ammunition.
Reports last night revealed Johnson also has a white stepmother after his father James remarried.
Teacher Donna Ferrier Johnson proudly shared pictures of her stepson in uniform on Facebook.
Photos suggest Johnson’s father James was also in the military. Yesterday Nicole told of her grief.
She told pals on Facebook: “I keep saying it’s not true . . . my eyes hurt from crying. Y him?” The horror unfolded as 800 people gathered to protest at the deaths of two black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, at the hands of cops in Minnesota and Louisiana this week.
As the march neared its end at 9pm — 2am in Britain — gunfire rang out. Detectives said shots rained down from elevated positions, calmly picking off uniformed targets from behind.
Johnson is thought to have executed at point-blank range a cop who confronted him outside the city’s El Centro college complex. Witness Ismael Dejesus, who filmed the moment on his mobile phone, said: “It looked like an execution.”
Johnson is then believed to have fled to a nearby garage, where the police siege began.
Dallas police chef David Brown said: “We saw no other option than to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger.”
It is believed to be the first time the tactic has been used in the US.
Chief Brown said the attacks had been “ambush-style” and admitted: “We still don’t have complete comfort level we have all the suspects.”
He added: “The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter. He said he was upset at white people. He said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.
"We believe these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate from two different perches and planned to injure and kill as many as they could.”
President Barack Obama condemned the police murders as “vicious, calculated and despicable”.
And he added: “Police in Dallas were on duty doing their jobs keeping the people safe during a peaceful protest. These law enforcement officers were targeted.
“I speak for every American when I say we are horrified and we stand united with the people and police department in Dallas.”
One protester, Lynn Mays, said: “All of a sudden we started hearing gunshots out of nowhere.
“Next thing you know we heard ‘officer down’. Police officers started shooting and whoever was shooting started shooting back. And that’s where the war began.”
Dozens of officers lined up to salute their fallen colleagues at the city’s Parkland Hospital.
Just hours before her brother’s shooting spree, Johnson’s sister revealed her anger at the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.
Nicole posted a photo of dead US rapper Tupac Shakur with his quote: “The police are the biggest gang in America.”
And on Wednesday she wrote: “White people have and will continue to kill us off. The only difference is they serve the system hiding behind that blue suit and get off easy murdering civilians.”
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