Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, praised the actions of Dallas police officers who responded during a shooting in the city Thursday evening that left five law enforcement agents dead and seven injured.
“On behalf of the more than five million members of the National Rifle Association, and especially on behalf of our members from the law enforcement community, I want to express the deep anguish all of us feel for the heroic Dallas law enforcement officers who were killed and wounded,” LaPierre said in a statement Friday.
The NRA leader praised “those who so bravely ran toward danger to defend the city and the people of Dallas” during the chaotic shooting.
City officials have released few details about the suspects involved in the incident, but the Dallas Police Department indicated Friday morning that one suspect had expressed anger about police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota this week.
Police had convened on the streets of Dallas to observe a peaceful protest by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to those killings.
“With heavy hearts, NRA members honor their heroism and offer our deepest condolences to all of their families,” LaPierre said.
Speaking in Poland Friday, President Obama said the coordinated sniper attack shows that “people armed with powerful weapons unfortunately makes attacks like these more deadly.”
