BREAKING: Five Police Officers Shot Dead During Protest in #Dallas United States as Blacks Fight Back

Five Dallas police officers have been killed and six wounded by gunmen during protests against the shooting of black men by police, authorities say.

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi, According to BBC News, the shootings occurred around Main Street, where a protest was taking place following the earlier killing of two black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Gunfire broke out at around 20:45 local time on Thursday (01:45 GMT Friday) as demonstrators marched through the city.

The protest was peaceful before the gunfire erupted.

The suspects fired at police officers from elevated positions in a parking garage overlooking the street.

Nearby El Centro College was placed on lockdown ahead of the protest and remained in that state for several hours.

Three suspects are in police custody and one remains in a stand-off with police in the parking garage. Some reports say that fourth suspect has now died.

Earlier in the evening, police published on social media a photo of a gun-toting man, with the message, “This is one of our suspects. Please help us find him!.” They later said the man had turned himself in, but it remained unclear early Friday if he has any connection to the rampage.

Here's the video footage caught on tape;

Chief Brown said the suspects were all believed to have been working together, using rifles to carry out attacks while the rally was taking place.

He added: "We do not have a comfort level that we have all the suspects."

A transport police officer comforts a relative at Baylor University Hospital. || Image: AP

The protesters have been angered by the deaths of black men at the hands of police.

US President Barack Obama said "all fair-minded people should be concerned" about the frequent police killings of black Americans.

Pointing to statistics showing African-American citizens are far more likely to be shot by police than whites, Mr Obama called on law enforcement to root out internal bias.

"When incidents like this occur, there's a big chunk of our fellow citizenry that feels as if it's because of the colour of their skin, they are not being treated the same,'' he said. "And that hurts."

But Mr Obama also said there was "extraordinary appreciation and respect for the vast majority of police officers who put their lives on the line to protect us every single day. They've got a dangerous job. It's a tough job."

The Officer Down Memorial website says 53 US officers have died in the line of duty in 2016, 21 of them as a result of gunfire. The toll does not include those killed in Dallas.

SOURCE: BBC, The African Post,
Image Via: AP, EPA,