Dallas Police Department Memorial Collection

On July 7, 2016, during a peaceful protest in Dallas, Texas, a gunman opened fire on the crowd, targeting law enforcement officers. Five police officers were killed. Two civilians and nine officers were injured. In the aftermath of the tragedy, well-wishers laid memorials to the fallen officers at the Dallas Police Department headquarters. This collection consists of some of the items that were laid at the memorial site.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and a wave of violence against Black citizens in the United States by police officers, there were a series of planned, peaceful protests. On the night of July 7, 2016, a demonstration was organized in downtown Dallas, Texas by the Next Generation Action Network to protest the extralegal killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The Dallas protest was one of several held across the United States on the night of July 7. It began in Dallas' West End District with several hundred protesters making their way south through the streets. Just before 9:00pm, a gunman parked his vehicle near the protesters, exited his vehicle and began shooting. It is believed the gunman specifically targeted police officers because of the recent violence against Black citizens by police officers across the nation.

Later identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, the gunman ambushed and shot police officers before fleeing to a building on the campus of El Centro College where police killed him several hours later with a bomb attached to a remote-controlled bomb disposal robot. This event is thought to be the first time United States law enforcement used a robot to kill a suspect.

Four Dallas Police officers, Sergeant Michael Smith, Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens, Officer Michael Krol, and Officer Patricio "Patrick" Zamarripa, and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer (DART), Officer Brent Thompson, were killed. Two civilians and nine officers were injured: four officers from Dallas Police, three from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), and two from El Centro College, the area where the shootings took place. At the time, this event was considered the deadliest law enforcement incident since 9/11.

In the aftermath of the shooting, two police cars were parked outside Jack Evans Police Headquarters, located at 1400 Botham Jean Boulevard (called Lamar Street at the time), around which a memorial developed as mourners left items at the area including flowers, balloons, and handwritten notes and posters. Condolences were sent from all over the world in the form of cards, correspondence, and objects such as plush toys and flags.

On July 15, 2016, in the face of an impending rainstorm, items from the memorial were gathered by volunteers and employees of the Dallas Public Library and the Dallas Police Department for safekeeping. These items are being preserved and cared for by the Dallas History & Archives division of the Dallas Public Library located at the J. Erik Johnson Central Library in downtown Dallas.