Fox4 News truck attack: Police identify ‘ranting’ pickup driver and say he has ‘mental issues’

The driver is in custody and no injuries have been reported

A man has been arrested after repeatedly ramming his pickup truck into the side of a Fox News studio in Dallas, Texas.

Dallas police have said that Michael Chadwick Fry, who allegedly rammed the rental truck into FOX 4 in downtown Dallas, “had mental issues and indicated people were trying to kill him.”

Fox4 reported the suspect "repeatedly" rammed into the floor-to-ceiling windows of their building, exited the vehicle, and started “ranting" before being detained. The suspect allegedly left behind a “suspicious package” - what Fox4 journalists said was a bag - that is being investigated by local bomb squad officers from the Dallas police department.

The incident took place just before 7am and staffers tweeted the building was being evacuated out of precaution. No injuries have been reported.

According to police, the suspect was upset and wanted media attention for a 2012 shooting involving a police officer in neighbouring Denton County, Texas. Mr Fry was reportedly present at the time of the incident.

The Fox4 camera crew was also able to film the suspect placing boxes full of papers next to a side door of the station, near where he rammed the pickup truck through. There were also hundreds of sheets of paper strewn about around the vehicle outside and on the street adjacent to the building.

One of the station's reporters tweeted the suspect was yelling "high treason" after exiting the vehicle. In the posted picture, he appeared to be holding a piece of paper up to the window of the building, next to the window which had just been driven through.

Another anchor for the station, Shaun Rabb, posted a video on Twitter showing he was blocked from entering the immediate vicinity of the station because of the bag the suspect left behind. His colleagues continue to be on air during Fox4's Good Day morning programme.

While most of the staff had been evacuated, some stayed behind in order to keep the station on air during the morning news programmes. According to Fox News, those journalists are in a "secure location" within the building.

Police have continued to exercise caution over the suspicious package left by the suspect, sending a bomb squad robot into the mess of papers and boxes to examine the bag. It appeared to be a bright orange duffel bag left to the side of the vehicle.

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the city's public transportation system, has said train and bus service in the downtown area surrounding the news station has been suspended due to the police investigation.

Police have also brought in bomb-sniffing dogs to assist them. Fox4 reported police and dogs are inspecting every car on the streets adjacent to the crime scene.

Staff were allowed back into the building approximately three hours after the incident took place.

This is the second high-profile incident involving members of the media in recent months. The last was the 28 June shooting at the Capitol Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. A man entered the newsroom and killed five people, injuring two others, over a grievance with the paper's coverage.