Dallas shooting: Snipers kill 5 cops, injure 7 more during protest against police shootings

Ten cops were shot at by the snipers; two suspects are in custody, the Dallas Police Department has said

Two snipers in Dallas fired at 10 cops, killing five and injuring others during a protest against police shootings of African-Americans. A statement earlier by the Dallas Police chief stated that four officers had been killed. 

“Three officers are deceased, two are in surgery and three are in critical condition. An intensive search for suspects is currently underway,” David Brown, chief of Dallas city police, said in the statement. 

The gunfire broke out around 8:45 PM on Thursday. Live TV video showed protesters marching along a street in downtown when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.

Scores of police and security officers were on hand. Police and others hunched behind cars outside a parking garage.

Officers with guns drawn were running near and into the parking garage as police searched for the shooter.

On Wednesday, a Minnesota officer fatally shot Philando Castile while he was in a car with a woman and a child in a St. Paul suburb. The aftermath of the shooting was purportedly livestreamed in a widely shared Facebook video.

A day earlier, Alton Sterling was shot in Louisiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white officers. That, too, was captured on a cellphone video.

In midtown Manhattan, protesters first gathered in Union Square Park where they chanted "The people united, never be divided!" and "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!"

A group of protesters then left the park and began marching up Fifth Avenue blocking traffic during the height of rush hour as police scrambled to keep up. Another group headed through Herald Square and Times Square where several arrests were reported.

Michael Houston, a 20-year-old Brooklyn student, said anger and lack of action brought him to the protest.

"It's the definition of insanity," Houston said. "How can we expect anything to be different when nothing changes."

Lawrence Amsterdam, 35, another student from Brooklyn, decried what he called the police injustice.

"It's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. But the way I see it, it's murder first and ask questions later," Amsterdam said.