Dallas gunman practiced 'shoot and move' tactics at self defense gym
The sniper who killed five officers and injured several more in Dallas Thursday night before being killed by police had trained himself in advance of his deadly rampage. An Army veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan before being discharged under accusation of sexual harassment, Micah Xavier Johnson was seen performing military-style drills at his Texas home.
He also practiced "shoot and move" techniques — in which the attacker changes location after each round of gunfire — at a "self-defense and personal protection" gym in Fort Worth, Texas, which describes itself as a provider of "reality based training for today's urban environment." Johnson's movement patterns originally led to inaccurate reports of multiple snipers in Dallas instead of a lone gunman.
The gym's owner has disavowed all association with Johnson and says many of his facility's members are police officers themselves. "It's disgusting, what he did," the owner said. "I'm disgusted."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
The billion-dollar fight over the 'holy grail' of shipwrecks
In The Spotlight Several nations have staked a claim to the San José's treasure but who has the right to it?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Kate Winslet's eight-year battle to bring the life of Lee Miller to the big screen
The Blend Lee, based on the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller, has been a long time in the making
By Olivia Cole Published
-
'Miracles in the mud'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black men
Speed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Shooting at Chiefs victory rally kills 1, injures 21
Speed Read Gunfire broke out at the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade in Missouri
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published