Dallas police form honor line for officers killed in sniper attack

As vans from the coroner’s office lined up to transport the bodies of five officers for autopsy, a line of police slowly pulled their hands into a salute.

The images from the salute — called an honor line — instantly hit social media and spread across the world.

Dallas PD officers in line outside Parkland Hospital saluting their fellow officers lost in the line of duty. pic.twitter.com/VKuFoVze49

— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) July 8, 2016

Only one of the fallen officers — he worked for Dallas Area Rapid Transit — had been identified as of 1:20 a.m. Arizona time.

DART grieving the loss of Ofc Brent Thompson, 43, killed during Thurs protest. First DART officer killed in line of duty. Joined DART 2009.

— dartmedia (@dartmedia) July 8, 2016

The number of dead officers could rise as multiple were in critical condition. Police also said two civilians had been shot.

Seven officers were injured in addition to the five officers who were killed.

Thompson and the other officers were killed after snipers allegedly opened fire during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings of black men.

Police had three suspects in custody and had been engaged in a shootout with a fourth. That person, identified as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, was killed in a parking garage when police detonated an explosive about four hours after the attack began. Authorities say the explosive was attached to a robot to protect officers.

On Friday, officials said they believe Johnson was the lone shooter.

Authorities searched for possible explosives in the downtown Dallas area throughout the night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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