All hell broke loose in Dallas, Texas on Thursday night, as a sniper opened fire on police working crowd control at a protest against the police killings of African-American men in different parts of the over-armed, violent country.  The sniper or snipers shot eleven cops, killing four of them.

The gunman was apparently on the second floor of a parking garage at El Centro College in the downtown neighborhood.  Police have this person cornered and are attempting to negotiate (as of early Friday morning, US Central Time), but the suspect has continued to fire shots and claims to have placed bombs around the structure.

The shooting occurred at around 9:00 PM, local time, as 800 people were wrapping up a march and demonstration, with around 100 police officers assigned to the event and the surrounding area.  A person at the protest said they were "making our second lap" when gunfire erupted.

"We heard shots, we smelled gunpowder, and that's when everything got really intense and surreal," said one witness.  "We just started to run and grab kids," he added.

Dallas police Chief David O. Brown said the shooting was carried out by two snipers who fired down on a demonstration in the city’s downtown area that until then had been peaceful.  They "planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could," Chief Brown said.  "Some were shot in the back," the chief added.  "We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers."