1st LD Writethru: UN chief slams deadly shooting in U.S. state of Texas

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned the killing of five police officers during a rally in Dallas in U.S. state of Texas on Thursday, saying that "There is no justification for such violence."

The secretary-general extended his condolences to the families and colleagues of the victims, as well as the Police Department of Dallas, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, told reporters here.

"Those responsible compounded the suffering that many in the United States feel following the killing of two African-American men over two days," Haq said. "Those killings must be the subject of a thorough and impartial investigation.."

"They once again put the focus on the need to address discrimination, including racial disparities in law enforcement, in a comprehensive manner," he said.

Five police officers were killed and seven others injured as two snipers opened fire during a protest against officer-involved shootings across the United States on Thursday night.

The gunfire occurred about 8:45 p.m. local time Thursday (0145 GMT Friday) as protesters were marching along a street in downtown Dallas, a city in the northern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about 0.8 km from City Hall, when the shooting broke out and the crowd scattered.

One of the suspects told a hostage negotiator that he was upset about the recent police shootings of two black men and that he wanted to kill white people, especially police officers, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a news conference Friday morning.

The suspect, who was killed by police when they detonated a bomb delivered by robot, was identified today as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, media reports said. Endit