Dallas Police Chief: Shooter Was Planning Much Larger Attack

Dallas Police Chief David Brown defended his use of a robot to kill a sniper who murdered 5 police officers on Thursday and said that shooter Micah Xavier Johnson was planning a much larger attack.

Speaking on CNN’s "State of the Union," Brown said that Johnson had been practicing "explosive detonations" aimed at creating "devastating effects."

"We’re convinced that this suspect had other plans," Brown said, adding that Johnson thought what he was doing was "righteous."

Johnson had been planning his attack well before police-involved shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana last week, Brown said.

If anything, those attacks merely "sparked his delusion to fast track his plans."

With regard to his approval of the robot to kill Johnson, Brown told CNN that "you have to trust your people to make the calls necessary to save their lives,” Brown said on CNN’s "State of the Union." 

"That’s not worth my time to debate at this point," Brown said. "We believe that we saved lives by making this decision."

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