Four officers killed in Dallas protests against police shootings

Four police officers were killed in downtown Dallas as crowds protested the fatal shootings of two African-American men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Dallas police said a total of 11 officers were shot during the protests, including the four shot dead.

Here's what we know:

-- A total of 10 police officers were shot during the protests, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said. An 11th was shot during an exchange of gunfire with one of the suspects, and the officer was transported to the hospital, authorities said.

-- Brown said there could be more than two shooters. He said police had cornered a suspect in a commercial garage. "These suspects have threatened to plant a bomb in the downtown area," he said.

-- Two of the shooters were snipers, who shot from an "elevated position" and fired on officers "ambush-style," he said.

-- Officers killed included one DART officer and two Dallas police officers. DART, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency, operates buses and commuter rail in the city and surrounding suburbs.

-- The Dallas Police Department circulated a photo of a man they said was a suspect in the shooting, but later called him a person of interest and said he turned himself in.

-- An "alleged suspect" is in custody, the Dallas Police Department tweeted.

-- A suspicious package was discovered near that suspect's location. The package is being secured by a bomb squad, the tweet said.

Peaceful protest shattered

Witnesses said the protesters were marching peacefully when gunshots rang out. Crowds suddenly scattered in all directions.

"In the midst of it, gunshots just started barreling out," witness Michael Jackson told CNN's Don Lemon. "I immediately started running the opposite way."

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G.J. McCarthy said at first he thought it was fireworks. Then it got louder, and protesters realized it was gunfire.

"That went on for a while," he said. Crowds ran into a parking garage, then spilled out after word spread that there was a sniper nearby.

Clarissa Myles said she was eating at a McDonald's nearby when peaceful protests suddenly turned chaotic.

"Everyone was screaming, people were running," she said. "I saw at least probably 30 shots go off."

Police officers crouched behind vehicles while others approached the scene holding protective shields.

Officers have cleared the streets and are going around parking garages, looking for the shooter, Ben Ferguson, who lives in Dallas, told Lemon.

All rail and bus services have been suspended.

Two killings in two days

The shootings occurred as Americans nationwide took to the streets to demand answers over the killings of two black men in two days. They wept, marched and chanted "Black Lives Matter."

Crowds gathered outside Gov. Mark Dayton's residence in St. Paul, Minnesota, miles from the spot where an officer killed Philando Castile in a car on Wednesday.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com