Thanks-Giving Square in downtown Dallas, normally a respite for office workers grabbing a lunch break, became an impromptu vigil site Friday where hundreds gathered to show support for the five city police officers fatally shot in a sniper attack the night before.
“I come here every day,” said Lisa Bishop, who works nearby. “[Dallas] is my home. You have to come here and support your people.”
“It’s senseless,” she said of the shootings. “We need to come together and help heal everybody.”
A large swath of the downtown core has been designated an “active crime scene,” making it off limits to everyone but investigators. But Thanks-Giving Square was open to the public and became a rallying spot for top city officials and religious leaders.
They spoke of the broken hearts of a grieving city but also issued a plea, a call to action to deal with the racial strife plaguing the nation.
‘So much emotion’
“I almost didn’t come out of fear because so much emotion was running,” said Dallas resident Phallon Wright. “I’m so grateful that I did because it lifted my spirits.”
A woman prays during a vigil following the deadly sniper attack in Dallas. (REUTERS)
The deadly ambush that killed five Dallas police officers and wounded seven others and two civilians occurred as people gathered in the streets to protest the fatal police shootings of two black men this week, Alton Sterling, 37, out front of a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., early Tuesday, and Philando Castile, 32, inside a car in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Wednesday.
Both shootings were captured on video and both inflamed racial tensions across the nation.
Police say the Dallas gunman, who was killed by a robot armed with a bomb, had declared he wanted “to kill white people, especially white police officers.” Three other suspects were taken into custody.
People wait to return to their cars as police investigate the scene of Thursday’s shooting in Dallas. (The Associated Press)
“We will not shy away from the very real fact that we as a city, as a state, as a nation are struggling with racial issues,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings. “They continue to divide us.”
“We gotta change,” he said. “We must step up our game and approach complicated issues in a different way. And race is complicated.”
Hundreds of people listen as community leaders in Dallas try to reassure them following Thursday night’s deadly sniper attack on city police. (Mark Gollom/CBC)
He also stood behind the police, and asked whether the people can support and defend the 99 per cent of officers who do their jobs professionally.
“I think we can and I think we must,” he said
‘Evil plan’
Pastor Brian Carter spoke about the community’s deep pain, but he also elicited rousing applause when he declared: “We refuse to hate each other.”
But the most passionate response was reserved for Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who thanked the many well-wishers.
He referred briefly to the sniper attack, saying it was a well-organized evil plan and that police won’t rest until everyone involved is brought to justice.
But he also vowed the city is determined not to let those responsible “steal democracy from us.”