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FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES
Terrifying moment protesters chanting ‘hands up don’t shoot’ scatter as shots ring out in Dallas shooting
Rally was being held to protest the deaths of two black men in separate police shootings in the US
THE moment protesters are sent running for their lives as shots ring out has been caught on camera in Texas.
The video shows protesters walking through Dallas in protest against the two separate police shootings of black men this week when shots ring out across the street.
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The protesters are chanting "hands up, don't shoot" as they walk through the streets, with hundreds of people involved in the Black Lives Matter rally.
But the passionate rally is sent scrambling as the loud bangs ring out.
Some grabbing each other's hands, the protesters scramble to the sides of the street to take cover.
The video shows people running towards the cameraman while sirens are heard in the background.
Later footage shows police cars quickly driving to the scene.
Five police officers were fatally shot in the sniper attacks with people taking cover behind cars and doors.
One man, Lynn Mays, told Dallas News that he heard gunshots coming from nowhere with officers immediately caught in the cross fire.
He said: "All of a sudden we started hearing gunshots, just out of nowhere. At first we couldn't identify it because we weren't expecting it, and then we started hearing more rapid fire."
Showing some cuts he received when he fell to the ground to avoid the gunfire, Mr Mays said police officers headed towards the shooting around the corner but "froze."
He said: "Police officers started shooting in one direction, whoever it was started shooting back and that's when the war began."
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Dallas police have since described the attack as an "ambush".
The shootings come just days after the deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana at the hands of police.
It is understood one of the suspects involved in the shooting warned police that there were bombs "all over" Dallas.
Police were involved in negotiations with one of the suspects, who issued a warning that the "end is coming" for officers.
One of the suspects has now reportedly shot himself during the stand off with around three other suspects in police custody.
The County of Dallas has now closed down several buildings, including the courts, museum and administration building as it deals with the devastating fallout of the shootings.
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Police were also sent running from the sniper fire as multiple shots rang out from an elevated position in the city.
Distressing images of police officers shot and lying on the ground have been revealed with the attacks attracting criticism and horror from across the US.
US President Barack Obama spoke out about the Dallas shootings, calling for calm while condemning the attacks.
Speaking from Warsaw in Poland, Obama said the attacks were "vicious, calculated and despicable".
He said: "I believe I speak for every single American as I saw that we are horrified over these events and we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas."
The interrupted protest in Dallas was organised in response to the police shootings in the US earlier this week with once incident live-streamed on Facebook.
The girlfriend of Philando Castile live-streamed the immediate aftermath of her boyfriend's fatal shooting, filming her boyfriend lying next to her, drenched in blood.
The young woman, whose daughter witnessed the police shooting, said her boyfriend had been reaching for his ID after the couple were pulled over when the officer shot him four times.
The video shot by Diamond Reynolds showed Castile lying bloodied in the passenger seat of their car while still at police gunpoint.
Earlier in the week, footage of police shooting Alton Sterling also went viral, sparking outrage.
The man had been held down on the ground by police when he was shot.
The Department of Justice has now opened an investigation into the death of Sterling, 37, with the case involving Castile has been referred to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
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