Story highlights
- Five police officers in Dallas were killed Thursday, 11 shot
(CNN)Five Dallas police officers were killed in the deadliest incident for law enforcement in the United States since 9/11, according to statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
A total of 11 officers were shot at a protest that took place Thursday against police brutality.
The names of all five deceased officers have not yet been released, but they served in the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency. DART tweeted that it was grieving the death of Officer Brent Thompson, 43, who joined the agency in 2009.
"To say our police officers put their lives on the line everyday is not a hyperbole, it's a reality," said Mayor Mike Rawlings in a press conference early Friday morning.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said that he was proud of the officers and saw "the courage and professionalism and their grit to stay on scene to search for the suspects while we're vulnerable."
In 2015, 41 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty, according to FBI statistics. The number of police killed in the line of duty had been on the decline, having fallen from 51 in 2014.
Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
Police respond after shots were fired in downtown Dallas on Thursday, July 7. Five police officers were fatally shot during a protest over recent police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. Seven other officers were injured in the ambush, as were two civilians.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
Emergency responders administer CPR to an unknown patient near the receiving area of the Baylor University Medical Center.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
A police officer with Dallas Area Rapid Transit is comforted at the emergency room entrance of the hospital.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
A police helicopter flies over the scene in downtown Dallas. One suspect was killed by police after a standoff that lasted for hours.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
A man raises his hands as he walks near a law enforcement officer in Dallas.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
Protesters gather as police officers arrest someone in the aftermath of the shootings.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
A Dallas police officer takes a moment as she guards an intersection in the early morning hours.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
Dallas police respond to the scene of the shootings.
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Police officers shield bystanders after shots were fired at the protest.
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Police officers take cover as shots are fired.
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Police get in position after gunshots rang out.
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Two officers crouch behind barriers.
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Dallas police order people away from the area after the shootings.
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Police and others gather at the emergency entrance to the Baylor University Medical Center.
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Police stop a driver in downtown Dallas.
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
A view of downtown Dallas after the shootings. Kent Giles captured the image and told CNN he "heard multiple shots being fired. Probably more than 20 rounds. This is the intersection of Main and Griffin looking towards the west."
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Photos: Officers shot during Dallas protest
Dallas police check a car after detaining a driver.
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Dallas police stand watch after the shootings.
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Onlookers stand near police barricades after the shootings.
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Police attempt to calm the crowd after an arrest.
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A clerk looks at broken windows that were shot out at a store in downtown Dallas.
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Law enforcement officials wait outside the emergency room entrance of the Baylor University Medical Center.
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Here's a look at the deadliest incidents on law enforcement officers:
November 29, 2009
Four police officers from the Lakewood Police Department in Washington were killed at a coffee shop. The four slain officers were: Lt. Mark Renninger, Officer Ronald Owens, Officer Tina Griswold and Officer Greg Richards.
They were killed in an ambush-style shooting. The suspect in that attack, Maurice Clemmons, was shot and killed by police after a two-day manhunt. Police said he intentionally targeted the officers after a series of run-ins with authorities.
In 1989, Clemmons had been given a 95-year prison sentence in Arkansas for a host of charges, including robbery, burglary, theft and bringing a gun to school, but his sentence was commuted in 2000.
March 21, 2009
Four police officers from the Oakland Police Department in California were killed in two incidents on the same day. The gunman, Lovelle Mixon, 26, allegedly shot two Oakland patrol officers and fled to a nearby apartment building. Mixon then allegedly shot and killed two SWAT officers who burst into the apartment before police fatally shot him. A fifth officer was injured.
The four slain officers were: Sgt. Ervin Romans, Sgt. Daniel Sakai, Sgt. Mark Dunakin and John Hege.
September 11, 2001
The terror attack is the deadliest day in U.S. law enforcement history, killing 72 officers, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a group that tracks law enforcement deaths.
The officers came from several different agencies, including the Port Authority, New Jersey Police Department, New York City Police Department, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, New York State Office of Court Administration, New York City Fire Department, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer died in the crash of Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
April 19, 1995
Emergency workers sift through the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, OK.
Eight federal law enforcement officers were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. The officers came from the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The eight slain officers were: Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alan Whicher, Special Agents Cynthia Brown, Donald Leonard, Mickey Maroney, Senior Special Agents Paul Ice, Claude Medearis, Special Agents Paul Broxterman and Special Agent Kenneth McCullough.
Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, was executed in June 2001.
February 28, 1993
The Branch Davidians, a religious sect led by David Koresh, clashed with federal agents in 1993 in Waco, Texas.
Four Special Agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were killed trying to serve a search-and-arrest warrant for illegal weapons at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. Instead, a gun battle ensued with four ATF agents killed.
The four slain agents were: Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Robert J. Williams and Steven Willis.
The incident led to a seven-week stalemate, leading to the deaths of 82 Davidians, who followed their leader leader, David Koresh.
