Shooter at Dallas ICE facility was motivated by notoriety over ideology

DALLAS– A newly released police report offers personal details of the person responsible for last month’s shooting at a Dallas Immigration facility that killed two detainees and injured another, and experts think he may have been motivated more by notoriety than ideology.

The parents of Joshua Jahn, who died by suicide, told local police their 29-year-old son was a “loner,” according to a Fairview police report recently obtained by NPR. Fairview is a suburb north of Dallas, where he was living with his parents.

According to the incident report, Jahn was unemployed and didn’t have friends or a romantic partner.

The parents told the police Jahn “spent much of his time on his computer playing games and was ‘obsessed’ with AI technology.” They said Jahn rarely engaged in conversation and that they “were generally not aware of his daily activities.”

The shooting at the Dallas Immigration and Customs field office was the second shooting at an ICE facility in North Texas in recent months.

All of those killed were immigrants who were in ICE custody.

Jahn left a note saying the attack was aimed at ICE agents, law enforcement said at a press conference the day after the shooting.

Assigning Blame

Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson said at a press conference a day after the shooting that Jahn likely acted alone and wasn’t affiliated with a particular group or entity.

Public records from Oklahoma, where Jahn voted in the 2024 general election, indicate he was a registered independent. Jahn’s brother Noah told NBC News he didn’t think Jahn was interested in politics.

Still, several conservative elected and government officials point to his actions as an example of far left extremism.

The actual political philosophy of individuals who commit this kind of violence can be difficult to label.

Oftentimes, their views are a hodgepodge from both the left and right, said Rachel Kleinfeld, a political violence expert and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

“These shooters tend to want to use violence as a way of making their lives meaningful,” Kleinfeld said. “They often feel like their lives are really insignificant, unimportant. But if they commit an act of violence, they’ll be appreciated by one side or another.”

“Me and my brain”

Larson said FBI agents found a collection of notes at Jahn’s home in Fairview where he took sole credit for the attack. One note said “yes, it was just me and my brain.” Another said, “good luck with the digital footprint.”

The FBI office in Dallas told NPR it’s unable to comment on the investigation at this time because of the ongoing government shutdown.

For someone who’s desperate to feel heard, any kind of infamy can be attractive, said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

“A lot of these individuals who are so deep in these hyper-violence, really just dehumanizing online spaces, the idea of committing that very public act of violence is appealing,” Lewis said. “It gives them a way to get their name out, to become someone who matters.”

Lewis said that ideology isn’t the point for online forums that promote extremism

“Violence for the sake of violence can do the job,” he said.

Social Isolation

People who commit acts of political violence are often socially isolated. And many struggle with their mental health.

Jahn’s parents told Fairview police he wasn’t being treated for or diagnosed with any mental health conditions.

Jahn, who was born and raised in Allen, Texas, was described in the report “completely normal” until he returned from living in Washington state four or five years ago, according to the Fairview police incident report.

Kleinfeld said perpetrators of public violence are struggling with their sense of self and are looking for a target for their aggression.

“People who commit ideological violence tend to have had an identity disturbance in their life,” she said. “They’re not quite sure who they are, and they’re searching for a new identity.”