[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Angela, thank you very much. Mike Rogers, of course, Tom Fuentes, thanks to you as well. I've got to leave it right now. But our special coverage continues right here on
[Cnn. Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Wolf, thank you very much. I'm Don Lemon, in today for Brooke Baldwin. We're going to begin with five police officers dead, a national tragedy at the hands of a mass murderer who, according to police, went on a hunt for white officers. The killer's name, the police chief says, is Micah Xavier Johnson, an Army reservist who served in Afghanistan. They say he used sniper tactics and killed five Dallas police officers as they were downtown protecting protesters. The gunfire sent demonstrators and others scattering. One man began live streaming the chaos just as some officers were shot.
[Unidentified Male:] 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. Don't worry, I'm behind a I'm behind a tree. I think another officer's down around the corner over here. They got SWAT over here. I can't really I can't really get any closer. So they just dragged one of the officers Get out of there! Get out of there!
[Lemon:] It's so unbelievable, even watching it today, and I saw it all last night. A total of 12 officers were hit. So far, just a few of the fallen have been identified. And here they are. Transit officer and war veteran Brent Thompson, just 43 years old. And then there is Patrick Zamarripa, who is a member of the Dallas force. He was a father of two and so a war veteran. In police audio you can get a hint of the danger he and his fellow officers were facing on the scene.
[Unidentified Male:] Officer down. You know, we've got a guy with a long rifle. We don't know where the hell he's at. Parking garage.
[Unidentified Female:] 69, we have got to get DOD down here now. We are
[Unidentified Male:] They're on the way. Rifle, possibly in the El Centro College building. Suspect is inside the El Centro building. Inside the El Centro building.
[Lemon:] This is the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11th. Since the September 11th attacks. And, today, the Dallas police chief said the shooter told negotiators he acted alone. The chief said after negotiations failed, tactical teams sent in a robot with a bomb and detonated it to kill him. And according to the chief, during negotiations, the mass killer revealed he was angry over the very reason that inspired the protests his violence cut short, the recent shooting deaths of African-American men by police.
[Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] 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.
[Lemon:] I want to go now to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is in the hometown of the gunman, that's Mesquite, Texas. Ed, he served in the military. He's a war veteran. Tell us about that.
[Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, he served six years in the U.S. Army, serving a year in Afghanistan, with decoration. He was discharged from the Army in April of last year. But we are here in the neighborhood where he lives, the house behind me, with his mother. And it was here, neighbors tell us, about just after 1:00 in the morning that a squadron of officers started arriving here in the neighborhood, and that's when many people around here started figuring out and drawing the connection between what was happening about 30 miles away in downtown Dallas. Mesquite is a suburb of Dallas, just east of town. And this is where the suspect, Micah Johnson, grew up, graduated from high school here in the area, and has been living in the house behind me. Up until a short while ago, Don, investigators were inside that house throughout the morning. We saw them pulling out bags of evidence. One bag in particular appeared to be a long rifle or a shotgun. It's unclear exactly what. But it was being gripped by one of the agents here at the scene as if it were some sort of weapon. We couldn't see it. Obviously, it was bagged inside one of these brown bags. But a number of ATF federal agents inside the home wearing bulletproof vests were inside, as well as Dallas Police crime scene investigators. And they left the home here just a short while ago. Don.
[Lemon:] And what are neighbors saying? They're saying is it the same sort of scenario that we hear, Ed, quiet and kept to himself, or was he a guy who was known about the neighborhood and known about town?
[Lavandera:] Well, a couple different stories. A lot of people who didn't really see him around all that much. We did speak with one neighbor who described him as someone who changed dramatically after returning from Afghanistan, was reclusive. Other neighbors who say that they saw him interacting with black and white people. So, because of that, they were surprised by the comments that he that the Dallas Police say he was making during that standoff in the early morning hours a short while ago. And then we talked to one resident as well that said that Micah would often talk about how many weapons he had and at some point had become would talk about that weaponry that he had inside of his home. So many people around here say they've kept to themselves. And a lot of what we see now is a lot of these people trying to piece together the bits and pieces of information that they've seen him over the last couple of months and year trying to trying to figure this all out at this point. Many people you talk to simply stunned in disbelief that someone from their neighborhood would carry out this horrible attack.
[Lemon:] Yes, and rightly so. Ed, I just have one question for you before I let you go. You said he lived there with his mother alone. Has anyone seen the mother? Have you been able to talk to the mother?
[Lavandera:] We do know that there's someone inside the house. We haven't been able to confirm whether that is the mother. We've made there are a couple of people who showed up here at the house a short while ago. We put in a request to see if anyone would talk to us, but they would not answer any of our questions. So it's unclear whether it's a relative, friend, the mother, we just don't know at this point. We do know that there are some people inside. That after the officers arrived, we had seen some movement inside the house, but no one has come out and shared any kind of comments or answered any of our questions so far, Don.
[Lemon:] Ed Lavandera at the home of the gunman where law enforcement there are taking out, as he said, bags of evidence and materials. Twenty-five-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson. Ed Lavandera, we'll get back to you, in Mesquite, Texas. Thank you very much for that. In the last hour, the city of Dallas has been holding a multi faith prayer service. You can see the crowds there from this aerial shot. The event was to honor the five officers killed, the seven others wounded, including this transit officer, Misty McBride. Two civilians were also hurt. Misty McBride's husband was outside the hospital last night with their daughter and we got a short heard a short snippet during our live coverage last night from him and the daughter. They were happy that she was OK. You know, the chief is urging Dallas citizens to show its police officers the support that they need now more than ever.
[Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] In the police profession, we're very comfortable with not hearing "thank you" from citizens especially who need us the most. We're used to it.
[Crowd:] Thank you. Thank you.
[Brown:] So today feels like a different day than the days before this tragedy, because you're here, because Dallas is a city that loves. Our officers want to say that we're hurting and we need this community.
[Lemon:] There's a whole lot here to unpack. So I want to bring in now Nick Selby, who works as a police detective in a town near Dallas and often consults with the with the force. Also here, CNN law enforcement analyst Art Roderick and CNN national correspondent Sara Sidner. Sara is actually in Dallas now. She's been there all day and all night and police are on the ground telling you, giving you information. What are they going through right now?
[Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Look, you're hearing directly from the police chief. They are in mourning. They are thinking not only about the colleagues that they have lost and the fellow officers, but the families who are now going through the devastation of having to deal with the aftermath of that loss and those who are watching their loved ones who are injured, who are trying to heal, who are trying to get through it, who are trying to survive. And this city is certainly mourning. We watched as they lowered the flags, one by one. First, the city of Dallas flag. Then, the state of Texas flag. Then, the United States flag. Giving you some semblance that it's not just the city of Dallas that's in mourning, it's the nation that is trying to come to terms with all of this. And so at this point in time, there's both the mourning and the investigation that still has to happen. Police officers, detectives, they still have to go to work. They still have to collect evidence. They still have to find out if there is anyone else who may have been involved in planning this or helping this happen in any way. And the police chief very clear about it, that if there is someone out there who has taken part in this in any way and been involved in this devastating deadly shooting, that they will be brought to justice. So there's work being done. And at the same time, there is mourning, not just among officers, but the city of Dallas itself. Don.
[Lemon:] Yes, absolutely. And among the country as well, Sara. Nick, you know, you work in this area. Did by the way, did you happen to know any of the officers who were injured or hurt?
[Nick Selby, Detective In Dallas Area:] I didn't. I was very, very lucky.
[Lemon:] What are your colleagues telling you?
[Selby:] I think that actually you sort of captured it, it's mourning and it's shock, but I also think that there is a a very palpable pride amongst all of us. We all were all of us who couldn't be there last night were on the phone and on text and FaceBook, and we were speaking with one another and talking about just the bravery and the honor that these officers showed as they as they charged exactly towards the danger, as we always hope that we can do. And they actually did it. They did an absolutely fantastic job at every stage, from being transparent, to actually running into harm's way and getting that job done so effectively.
[Lemon:] Yes.
[Selby:] I think that the communities, you know, the community has been thanking us throughout the mid-cities, you know, all of the cities between Dallas and Ft. Worth, the communities have been stopping in with everything from cakes and iced tea, to just people saying "thank you." And it's been absolutely a wonderful turnout.
[Lemon:] Yes. As I was speaking to witnesses last night until 2:00 in the morning, they were saying that the police officers were running towards the danger. They were running away from the danger. And, Art Roderick, I spoke with a witness who saw the murder of one of those officers. Listen to this.
[Ismael Dejesus, Witnessed Dallas Shooting:] Basically came out to the balcony, did hear some popping sounds. I did think it was fireworks at first. Came out. Man had a rifle. An AR-15, clear as day. A pretty big magazine. And you could see
[Lemon:] This is him behind the railing. This is him behind the railing next to the column, correct?
[Dejesus:] Yes, this is him right here to the right of that white pillar. You know, shooting to the left, goes ahead, turns around, shoots to the right, shoots on the other side of the pillar. He, honestly, he was shooting at something and aiming at somebody. Then he, you know, turned around, checked his, you know, his back, make sure there was no one coming. But the officer did come across the right side of the screen to that pillar to the right and tried to take him one-on-one in a firefight and it didn't it didn't end very well. And it was it's just very tragic.
[Lemon:] And that's the officer getting shot right there?
[Dejesus:] No, I didn't get I didn't get the video of the officer getting shot.
[Lemon:] OK.
[Dejesus:] That is the officer down right there. It was he it looked like an execution, honestly. And he stood over him after he was already down, shot him maybe three or four more times in the back. So at that point, I didn't know if he was confirmed dead or anything, obviously, but he was down for about five more minutes until anybody could come get to him.
[Lemon:] Unbelievable. Art, you can see the shooter there. We heard that he has he was in the military. He had some sort of training. As you're looking at this video and this background, what does this tell you about this gunman?
[Art Roderick, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, it's quite obvious he had some form of training. I mean basic training will give you those types of skills, that will at least allow you to fire a firearm in that type of mode, even with iron sights at that close range, you'd be able to do the damage that he had done. Obviously, he had a lot of ammunition on him. You heard the witness talk about him dropping magazines, dropping rounds. And I think when you when you look at this particular video, this is a stark reality of what actually was occurring at that site last night.
[Lemon:] Yes. And it's also a stark reality of just the sort of firepower that we talk about out on the streets. And as I speak to law enforcement, you know, chiefs, even officers from around the country, they say they are often outgunned. These officers were outgunned by this man.
[Roderick:] Absolutely. You're not going to win a firefight when you've got a pistol that has a.9 millimeter or a 40 caliber round, against somebody that has an AR-15 that's shooting.223 caliber rounds. It's just impossible, the amount of firepower that that weapon can put out against somebody holding a handgun.
[Lemon:] How will listen, these are professionals, Nick. These officers, again, put their lives on the line every day. And the question is, how are they going to treat protesters from now on? Not just Black Lives Matter activists, but any protesters? I would imagine they will continue to treat them with the utmost respect and they will do their jobs.
[Selby:] That's exactly right. And I and that actually went out this morning to most of the officers in the area that we are expecting more protests and that these officers died protecting the citizens' right to protest how they're being policed and that we are there to defend those rights. And that is exactly what we're going to do. There's not going to be any kind of crackdown on protests because we simply won't allow these people to win. This is something about freedom of expression and the police are there to help the citizens do exactly that.
[Lemon:] Yes. Sara, the mayor, I understand, you know, lauded the officers and the police for being best in class. It's a very diverse police force. The chief is African-American. It represents the ethnicity of the community. But they are best in class according to the mayor.
[Sidner:] Yes. I'm I'm having a little bit of trouble hearing you. I did I did want to mention this, Don. There's a real juxtaposition here. You talk to that witness, right, that saw this officer being gunned down right before him. There was a 13-year-old who was in the hotel above that area watching the same thing and taking video of it. We spoke to him and his father. Both African-American. And his father was saying, I'm trying to teach some lessons here, and was going to take him down to the protest where people were marching against police brutality, and suddenly I find myself in the middle of this and wondering what lesson I can can let him learn about this. And he said, ultimately, it was a lesson that violence begets violence. It doesn't solve anything. And he started talking to his son about that. I do want to mention this to you, too, and I think it's something that we're going to have to delve into more and more. The American population has now seen in the past 72 hours three deaths happening live, no filter, nothing to stop them from seeing the absolute reality of what happens when someone dies, watching and seeing that before their eyes. We've seen that just in 72 hours, and this is going to keep happening again and again because of these. People are watching it on small screens and big screens and I think it's going to really have a deep impact on the American society. Don.
[Lemon:] I think it's and on the American psyche, you bring up the very good point because unfiltered and watching this. And if you have children at home, I would if I had a child, I don't, I would not want them to see these images. And we cannot, you know, become used to seeing these images because it's it's reality. It's reality. It's not just something that's on the television. Thanks to all of you. If we can get the pictures of those officers up, I would like the producers to do that because we are honoring these two officers and mourning the death of five police officers. So far, we have heard the fallen transit officer and war veteran Brent Thompson, 43 years old. There he is right there. And then there's Patrick Zamarripa, a member of the Dallas force, a father of two, also a war veteran. These two gentlemen, two of the five we know who were killed in Dallas last night. And we'll continue to honor them today. I'm also going to talk to a resident of downtown Dallas who thought that the gunshots were fireworks before she picked up her camera and documented what she was seeing. You're watching CNN's special live coverage. Don't go anywhere.