Dallas police shooting suspect identified as Micah Xavier Johnson - latest updates

Johnson was killed by a police robot bomb after talks with police broke down

Dallas gunman wanted to kill white police officers

Here are the latest updates:

• Suspect identified as Xavier Michael Johnson
• Shooter says he 'wanted to kill white people, especially white officers'
• Five police officers dead at Dallas protest
• 12 officers and two civilians injured in 'orchestrated attack'
• Everything we know about the victims
• Video shows gunman moments before shooting police officer in the back
• Suspect in garage standoff killed by police bomb robot
• 'This is now war' - former congressman warns Obama

Snipers opened fire on police officers in Dallas, killing five officers and injuring seven others during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men, police said.

One suspect exchanged gunfire with police and was arrested early on Friday morning. A suspicious package was found near the suspect and a bomb squad had begun investigating the threat.

Two others were taken into custody early Friday morning, and during a standoff with police, a fourth told officers bombs were planted all across the city.

After a lengthy standoff with police, the suspect is believed to have been killed by a police bomb robot. Earlier reports suggested he had shot himself.

The shooter said he "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers," Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters.

Earlier, the suspect said "more will die" and claimed to have planted explosives throughout the area. No explosives were found in two searches of the downtown area.

The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday while hundreds of people were gathered to protest fatal police shootings this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota. Police Chief Brown told reporters the snipers fired "ambush style" upon the officers. Mayor Mike Rawlings said one member of the public was wounded in the gunfire.

Protests were also held in several other cities across the country Thursday night after a Minnesota officer on Wednesday fatally shot Philando Castile while he was in a car with a woman and a child. The aftermath of the shooting was livestreamed in a widely shared Facebook video. A day earlier, Alton Sterling was shot in Louisiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white officers. That, too, was captured on a mobile phone video.

Video footage from the Dallas scene showed protesters were marching along a street in downtown, about half a mile from City Hall, when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.

Chief Brown said that it appeared the shooters "planned to injure and kill as many officers as they could."

[8 July 2016 07:29 · Adam Withnall]

Welcome to The Independent's live blog bringing you the latest updates from the shootings of multiple police officers in Dallas, Texas.

[8 July 2016 07:32 · Steve Anderson]

[8 July 2016 07:37 · Steve Anderson]

Here is what we know so far: Four police officers have been killed and seven wounded by sniper fire during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas. 

Police are currently in a standoff with one armed man who is in a garage. 

Three other people have been detained.

Protesters were calling for justice after the police shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota this week. 

[8 July 2016 07:38 · Steve Anderson]

"With heavy hearts, we are devastated to report a fourth officer has died," Dallas Police Department said in a statement earlier. 

[8 July 2016 07:39 · Steve Anderson]

Dallas Police Chief David Brown said the suspect police are in a stand off with "has told our negotiators that the end is coming and he is going to hurt and kill more of us, meaning law enforcement, and that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown".

[8 July 2016 07:39 · Steve Anderson]

Earlier, he said: "We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches... and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could."

[8 July 2016 07:40 · Steve Anderson]

[8 July 2016 07:42 · Steve Anderson]

Officers are in a standoff with a fourth suspect in the El Centro parking garage, in downtown Dallas. 

Chief Brown said the suspect told officers that "the end is coming" and "more will die".

They also claimed to have planted bombs in the garage and surrounding area.

[8 July 2016 07:44 · Steve Anderson]

Ted Cruz, Senator for Texas, has paid tribute to officers who "selflessly run into harm's way to save the lives of others".

[8 July 2016 08:09 · Steve Anderson]

Officer Brent Thompson, 43, has been named as one of the officers killed during the shootings.

He is the first Dart officer to be killed in the line of duty.