Merced reacts with sadness, anger, fear to violence in Dallas

Amanda Flowers called her family in Merced on Friday morning to make sure they knew she was a safe distance from the terrifying violence the night before in Dallas that claimed the lives of five police officers and injured more than half a dozen others.

“My mom is visiting and I told her to call Dad and make sure he knows you’re fine,” Flowers told the Sun-Star in a telephone interview.

The 35-year-old property tax account manager moved from Merced to Dallas with her family in 2010 after her husband was transferred for his job. She lives about 30 minutes away from downtown Dallas, where a protest against recent killings by police of black men in Baton Rouge, La., and suburban St. Paul, Minn., was halted by a hail of gunfire targeting police officers.

Flowers, like millions around the world, was shaken by news of the deadly ambush targeting the police.

“The whole aura of this place is disbelief, shock. There are a lot of restaurants and nightclubs in the downtown, a lot of people go there and they’re scared,” she said. “It was scary.”

About 8:45 p.m. local time Thursday, shots were fired by at least one sniper, authorities said. The shootings happened a few blocks from Dealey Plaza, the landmark made famous by President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Authorities initially said there were three suspects in custody and a fourth killed by a robot-delivered bomb in a parking garage after a long standoff.

However, on Friday afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said that “there appears to have been one gunman.”

Authorities have identified the man who died as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, a black man who lived in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite. He served from March 2009 to April 2015 in the Army Reserve and did one tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Police searched Johnson’s home and found bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition and a personal journal of combat techniques, the Dallas Police Department reported.

Johnson had told authorities he was upset about the recent shootings of black men by police and wanted to kill whites, “especially white officers,” according to Dallas police Chief David Brown.

The names, service dates and details of the five officers killed have not been released. Law enforcement officials did not disclose the races of the officers, either.

One of them, Officer Brent Thompson, was described as “courageous” and a newlywed, according to Dallas Area Rapid Transit police Chief James Spiller.

Seven officers were injured in the shootings. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said one of the wounded officers had a bullet go through his leg as three members of his squad were fatally shot around him.

One of the two civilians injured was Shetamia Taylor, 37, who was shot in the right calf, according to sister Theresa Williams. Taylor threw herself over her four sons, ages 12 to 17, when the shooting began.

Merced-area law enforcement leaders said they were deeply troubled by the horrific violence.

Sheriff Vern Warnke said Thursday’s attack was a “heartbreaking tragedy” that highlights a need for reflection “by everybody.”

“I pray that society can get itself together, can get a grip on itself,” Warnke said. “We know it can happen here and that’s why we continue to train and work to protect everybody. And that means also protecting the segment of society that we know doesn’t like us.”

That commitment was on display Friday as the Merced County Sheriff’s Office hosted an active-shooter training at the shooting range at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater. The Sheriff’s Office hosted the training free of charge. Officers from the California Parks Department and deputies from the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office participated, Capt. B.J. Jones said.

The “Multiple Assault Counter Terrorism Action” training helps officers and deputies gain experience in dealing with simulated scenarios involving multiple shooters in a chaotic environment. Officers are put in an active-shooting scenario with people screaming for help, lights and sirens blaring, and are forced to pick their way through the course identifying dangerous targets and potentially innocent people who may accidentally get in the way.

“There’s no way to truly re-create that kind of scene, but you try to get close to it by using diversionary tactics, loud noises, flash-bangs and other possible distractions to allow these guys to get a sense of what they need to do in a stressful, dangerous scene,” Jones said.

Friday’s training had been scheduled for several months. The timing, deputies said, was coincidental.

Police in Atwater, Dos Palos and Gustine posted messages of support on their department Facebook pages.

“Law enforcement around the country and around the world are brothers and sisters,” said Lt. Samuel Joseph of the Atwater Police Department. “So we all feel like we lost members of our family.”

Merced police Capt. Bimley West said the shooting underscores issues of building community trust in the law enforcement and justice systems.

“Violence is not the answer to any situation,” West said. “That’s the reason we have the courts, judicial systems and other areas of investigations to determine whether police officers’ actions were just.”

West said the Merced Police Department has a citizens academy that focuses on building trust with the community.

“When we try to stop people doing bad things, the things we do don’t always look pretty,” West said. “We invite the public to come in and learn what we do and why we do it.”

Back in Texas, Flowers worried for the future.

“I’m just hoping that everything will be OK, that we can move past this,” she said. “Everybody here is talking about it. Everybody is shocked, devastated. It’s scary. I’m praying for our country.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Merced reacts with sadness, anger, fear to violence in Dallas."