Johnson in his military gears

The sniper who killed five cops and wounded seven more in Dallas, United States on Thursday night was an  States Army veteran.

The mass shooting occurred during demonstrations against unprovoked killing of two black men by the policemen in two separate cities of the United States some days earlier.

The 25-year-old who served six years in the Army Reserve, died early Friday when police deployed a robot to blow up an explosive device in the parking garage where officers had cornered the gunman and engaged in hours of negotiations that ultimately failed.

The deceased officers have been identified as Dallas police officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Patrick Zamarripa and Michael Smith and Dallas transit officer Brent Thompson.

The gunman who was killed with the aid of a remote controlled robot, according to military records, served in the Army Reserve from March 2009 until April 2015.

He was a carpentry and masonry specialist, the records show.

He was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and July 2014, which earned him a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among other awards.

Police described Johnson’s attack of the police officers as “well-planned” and on  Friday evening revealed that law enforcement found rifles and tactical gear in a search of a home the sniper apparently shared with his mother in Mesquite, Texas, 20 miles outside of Dallas.

“During the search of the suspect’s home, detectives found bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition and a personal journal of combat tactics,” police said in a statement. “Detectives are in the process of analyzing the information contained in the journal.”

The suspect told a negotiator that he acted alone before he was killed.

The assailant said that his goal was to kill white people, specifically white police officers, said Police Chief David Brown.

Brown said: “Our hostage negotiator did an exceptional job getting the suspect to talk before he died.

“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter; police shootings, white people.

“The suspect said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.

“The man also told officers before he died that he acted alone and was not affiliated with any group.

“During the stand-off, he claimed to have planted bombs and that the bombs will be discovered after his death.’’

Brown said that the Police used a robot outfitted with a bomb to kill the suspect.

“We saw no other option than to use our bomb robot and to place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was.

“Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger,” he said, adding that earlier reports that the suspect had been shot dead by police were false,’’ he said.