Authorities in Dallas responded Friday morning to reports of an “unknown substance” discovered at a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility — the same site targeted in a deadly shooting just two months ago.
Dallas Police Department spokesperson Michael Dennis confirmed that officers located a “suspicious package” inside the government building during the initial response. “No injuries were reported,” Dennis said, noting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is now leading the ongoing investigation.
According to a Dallas Fire-Rescue call log cited by the Dallas Morning News, more than a dozen emergency units were dispatched shortly before 7 a.m. local time due to concerns of a potential hazardous materials threat.
The discovery comes on the heels of a fatal attack at the same ICE facility in September. In that incident, authorities say a Texas resident opened fire indiscriminately at the detention site, which holds immigrants awaiting processing. Two detainees were killed and another was critically wounded. ICE said at the time that the shooter targeted the building and a van in the sallyport area where the victims were struck.
The gunman was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No ICE personnel were harmed.
During a press conference following the September attack, Joe Rothrock, special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI field office, revealed that ammunition recovered near the suspect contained “messages that are anti-ICE in nature.” He emphasized that the incident fit into a pattern of hostility toward federal immigration authorities.
“This is just the most recent example of this type of attack,” Rothrock said, stressing that federal authorities are treating these threats seriously. “This will be a whole-of-government response. There will be no resource not utilized to bring all those individuals who are responsible … to justice and to hold them accountable.”
With Friday’s incident still under investigation, federal and local officials are once again on high alert as threats against ICE facilities continue to escalate nationwide.
[READ MORE: ICE Reports Over 3,500 Arrests During Shutdown, Citing Threats From Criminal Immigrants]
