Snipers have shot dead four police officers and injured seven other officers in Dallas, Texas during a protest over recent fatal police shootings in the US.
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Witnesses reported hearing multiple shots ring out during the protest, which was being held near the area of Market and Main streets in downtown Dallas just before 9pm on Thursday, local time.
Dallas Police chief David Brown said it appeared that two snipers had fired from elevated positions during the protest, shooting 10 police officers. Three of those officers were killed, he said. Two were in surgery, and three were in a critical condition.
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) confirmed that one of its police officers was among those shot dead, while three other of its officers who were shot had injuries that were not life-threatening.
Fox 4 News in Dallas reported that one suspect was down, while a second suspect was in a downtown Dallas garage and wearing a bulletproof vest and tactical gear.
The protest was being held following the deaths of two men - Alton Sterling in Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Minnesota - in separate police shootings this week. The men, who were both black, were killed by police officers, and their deaths were captured on mobile phone cameras.
One witness at the protest in Dallas told Fox News that "complete pandemonium" broke out when shots were fired towards the end of the rally.
"Everyone just took off running," he said.
He believed the shooter had an assault rifle, and said police returned fire.
CBS news anchor Doug Dunbar tweeted that a witness reported hearing "about 20 shots in succession".
Dozens of officers were at the scene "with their guns drawn", Dunbar said.
Another witness, Michael Bautista, said he saw one police officer on the ground as he fled the scene.
"I saw the bullets hitting the cop cars," he said.
He said the protesters had been involved in a "peaceful march" before the shooting occurred.
Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News that everyone "just started running" when the shots were fired. "We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there," Devante said.
Renee Sifflet of Dallas stood at the corner of Commerce and Houston, waiting for the chaos to die down so she could retrieve her three teenage children, who were in hiding.
"I brought them here for a positive experience, something they could say they were part of when they're older," she said. "Then it turned negative."
When they started running, she said, she lost track of her 15-year-old son for two minutes in the mayhem. "Thank God he has a cellphone," she said.
Carlos Harris, who lives downtown, said the shooters "were strategic. It was tap tap pause. Tap tap pause."
Harris, who said he was in the military, said he heard someone fire back with an AR-15.
Before the shots were fired, the demonstrators were peacefully walking down Main Street.
"The cops were peaceful," he said. "They were taking pictures with us and everything."
More to come
