A masked gunman who opened fire outside a federal courthouse in downtown Dallas Monday was fatally shot by officers who quickly arrived at the scene.
Brian Isaack Clyde, 22, died at the hospital after exchanging gunfire with federal officers outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno.
Authorities offered no hint of his motive, but DeSarno said there was nothing to indicate the presence of any other shooters or threats to the city.
Clyde opened fire around 8:40 a.m. and the Dallas Morning News reported that its photographer, Tom Fox, was outside the building and witnessed the gunfire. Fox said the masked man parked at a street corner, then ran and began shooting at the courthouse. The bullets shattered the glass panes in a revolving door.
Fox photographed Clyde after he was shot, shirtless with a tattoo of a red heart with the silhouette of a cat inside.
A bomb squad later examined a vehicle associated with the gunman as a precaution and performed controlled explosions, authorities said. Two loud blasts could be heard.
No one else was injured in the shooting, officials said.
A spokesman for the U.S. Army confirmed to the Daily News that “Private 1st Class Clyde served as an infantryman in the Army from August 2015 to February 2017.”
He was also listed as a May 2019 “prospective” graduate at Del Mar College with an associate degree in applied science.
“Military has always been big in my family, so has education,” he said in a Facebook video viewed by the Dallas Morning News. “When I got out, I really didn’t have any other options, so I figure go to school.”
Social media posts reported by CBS DFW included “rants about the U.S. government” and the Branch Davidians, as well as a photo of ammunition.
“I don’t know how much longer I have, but the [expletive] storm is coming. However, I’m not without defense,” he says in the video, holding what the Dallas Morning News reported looked like a rifle wrapped with duct tape. “[Expletive] ready. Let’s do it.”
He also posted a photo of a swastika in April, calling it a “solution,” according to NBC News, as well as memes about involuntary celibates and conspiracy theories including “secret pedophile rings and CIA experiments.”
Clyde’s Facebook had been taken down by late Monday afternoon.
An FBI official said they are “aggressively pursing all (Clyde’s) social media activity.”
With News Wire Services
