‘It’s pretty shocking’: Local law enforcement leaders respond to Dallas shootings

IOWA CITY - Local law enforcement officials expressed shock and sadness in the wake of the deadliest attack on police since 9/11.

Five Dallas police officers were killed and seven more were injured in what authorities are describing as an ambush on law enforcement at a protest Thursday night. Dallas Police Chief David Brown told news outlets that the suspect - who died after a standoff with police - said he wanted to kill white people and white officers after recent officer-involved shootings of black men in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

'It's pretty shocking,” said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. 'It's just unbelievable that our country has come to that.”

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner expressed disdain Friday that outrage over the two recent officer-involved shootings has led to 'open season” on law enforcement.

'Social media appears to have turned into the new court of law and many in the public are quick to rush to judgment without knowing all of the facts,” he said. 'Somehow, this has now turned into open season on law enforcement officers, both literally and figuratively.”

Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said he felt 'anger and sadness” when he learned about the Dallas shootings.

'Sadness for the officers and their families,” he said. 'The anger because those officers died protecting the groups of protesters that were protesting against police. And when the shooting started, those officers went toward the danger, which is what police officers across the country do every day, multiple times a day.”

So, how do you send officers out into the line of duty and expect them to be safe?

'Frankly, I don't know that you can,” Pulkrabek said. 'I don't know that they are safe. But, I also know that they are dedicated. You are a dedicated individual if you get into law enforcement.”

Added Pulkrabek, 'It's an honorable, noble profession, but is it a profession I recommend people get into these days? Absolutely not ... I don't blame people that don't want to get into the profession anymore.”

But, while police said incidents like what occurred could occur anywhere - even Iowa City or Cedar Rapids - Iowa City Interim Police Chief Troy Kelsay said Thursday's shootings doesn't put local police at any more risk than they've grown to expect in the line of duty.

'I don't think it raises a threat level, at all,” Kelsay said. 'I think it's something to be aware of ... I think the majority of Iowa City residents, like the majority of the people in the country, appreciate what we do and most of the time, we get it right.”