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DALLAS, Texas–Twelve officers were shot — five are dead, and seven are injured — in the attack in downtown Dallas, the Dallas mayor’s office said Friday.

Two civilians also were injured, according to Scott Goldstein, spokesman for the mayor.

The shooting happened  during a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas just before 9 p.m. Thursday night.

Five of those officers are dead. Several others are in critical condition.

The Dallas police chief is calling this a coordinated plot where the gunmen intently set up at elevated positions firing at targets below.

Three people are in custody and a fourth suspect is dead after a shootout with police.

The suspect who died after a standoff with Dallas police said he wanted to kill white people — especially white officers — and that he was upset about “the recent police shootings,” and that he acted alone, Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters Friday.

Of the five police officers killed in the shootings in Dallas, four were Dallas police officers and one was a Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer, mayor’s spokesman Scott Goldstein said Friday.

Of the seven other officers who were injured in the shootings, four are Dallas police officers and three are DART officers, Goldstein said

Dallas police Chief David Brown said an investigation into the ambush that killed five officers continues. “I’m not going to be satisfied until we’ve turned over every stone. We’ve got some level that this one suspect did do some of the shooting. But we’re not satisfied that we’ve exhausted every lead,” he told reporters Friday. “So if there’s someone out there who’s associated with this, we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will bring you to justice.”

“All I know is that this must stop — this divisiveness between our police and our citizens,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters after an ambush left five officers dead. “We don’t feel much support most days. Let’s not make today most days. Please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these, who carried out this tragic, tragic event.”

“Our No. 1 job is making sure the citizens of Dallas are safe, so we’re not going to tell you anything about the suspects (now), and we’re not going to answer any questions about that. We will when it’s the right time, but now is not the right time,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.

Witnesses reported hearing more than a dozen gunshots that scattered the crowd, according to KDFW.

“The shots were coming from the roof,” one protester told the station.

That protester said that officers and bystanders alike were in the line of fire.

Police officers were searching for a man with a rifle, according to several reports.

“Everybody was fair game,” The man said. “They were just shooting randomly.”

It’s not yet clear the extent of the officers’ or any bystanders’ injuries.

The protests began in Dallas, Thursday afternoon in response to the shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castil, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

Protesters gathered at Belo Gardens Park to begin a march through downtown Dallas.

Next Generation Action Network, who planned the rally, said it was to show solidarity with communities it says are “constantly terrorized by police brutality.”

WARNING: This video contains graphic content. 

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