Image source, AP

The White House has released the following statement: 

As a mark of respect for the victims of the attack on police officers perpetrated on Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Dallas, Texas, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, July 12, 2016. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Texas and other states have made similar orders:

Five police officers have been killed and several officers and civilians have been injured after a man opened fire near a peaceful protest in Dallas. What exactly happened?

Image source, Twitter

 Michael Krol, 40

Krol had been working for the Dallas police department since 2007. He was originally from the Detroit area.   

Image source, Twitter

Brent Thompson, 43

Thompson was working for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit organisation, starting in 2009. He had recently gotten married. He is first officer from DART to ever to be killed in the line of duty.

Image source, Twitter

Patrick Zamarripa, 32  

Zamarripa served multiple tours in Iraq and was the married father of a two-year old daughter. The Washington Post has written a profile of Zamarripa, external.

One police officer who was killed has not yet been identified.   

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AP

Image source, AP

For more images from the Dallas shootings: http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-36746786

Image source, Facebook

• 25 years old
• served as an Army Reservist until April 2015, Defense Department confirms
• also served as an enlisted soldier in the Army for nearly six years; served tour of duty in Afghanistan  
• from Mesquite, Texas - a Dallas suburb
• no known criminal history or ties to terror groups  

Image source, Facebook

The Dallas Police Department tweeted out photos of themselves peacefully standing along Black Lives Matter protesters before the shooting. Local media says that Black Lives Matter and the Dallas Police Department "have respect for each other" and that the protest was orderly before shots rang out.

A Facebook post from Rick Zamarripa, external says he is the father of Patrick Zamarripa, who was killed on Thursday in Dallas. He writes:

"Most of you already know this by now today in Dallas , my son is a police officer in Dallas he was working there the rally in downtown where my son was shot and killed by a sniper along with four other police officers maybe more at this moment I'm still at the hospital here in Parkland Hospital to see him be moved to the medical examiner's office , need prayers to get through this"

Other friends and relatives shared photos of Zamarripa on social media.  

Social media tributes are pouring in for injured transit officer Misty McBride. She was shot in the arm and abdomen.

k104fm, external writes: Dart Officer Misty McBride Is One of The DART Officers Shot In The Upper Arm And Abdomen according to@Fox4news, external But is Expected to Survive.#PrayForDallasPd, external#PrayForDallas, external#k104family, external

Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh is facing a wave of criticism online after he threatened President Obama in a tweet.  He has since deleted the tweet.

The Dallas transit officer who was killed on Thursday has been identified as Brent Thompson, 43. 

"As you can imagine, our hearts are broken," the agency said in a statement. "This is something that touches every part of our organization. We have received countless expressions of support and sympathy from around the world through the evening. We are grateful for every message. Thank you."  

The alleged Dallas gunman has been identified as 25-year-old Micah Johnson, US media report.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Johnson did not have a criminal history. The BBC has confirmed that he told law enforcement he did not pledge allegiance to any groups.

dallasdoulas, external writes: The blue ribbons are going up in neighborhoods this morning in honor of those that lost their lives. #standstrongtogether, external#heavyheart, external#prayfordallas, external#alllivesmatter, external

alyssamniccole, externalI writes: stayed up watching the events in Dallas unfold last night and was in complete shock. Much love for this city. Praying for peace in #Dallas, external and for all the families of the officers affected by the tragic event.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker Paul Ryan both gave speeches in the House to honour the officers killed in Dallas. 

Brendan Tyler Hester, a 21-year-old photographer and filmmaker from Dallas, went down to the rally with a couple of his friends. Soon after, shots rang out. 

"Once the shots rang out everyone started running and when I turned around to see where my friends were I saw a policeman next to me get shot," he told the BBC. 

"He dropped to the ground screaming. The police shouted at us to run so I did and ended up at the bottom of a parking lot. There was a shooter on the top of it so I could see all of the shots coming down onto where the police were. I could hear more shouting and screaming. I was trapped with three or four other guys and we were trapped in the line of fire so we just had to make a run for it. We made it out and there were police everywhere...

I think every police officer in Dallas was downtown tonight. We were told to go one way but then there was more shots there so we had to turn back.  In the end I had to run around half the city to get out of harms way."

The family of Alton Sterling, a black man whose death at the hands of police in Louisiana sparked the Dallas protest, has called the shootings "reprehensible", reports AP.

Earlier this month, video footage appeared to show two white police officers holding down and fatally shooting Mr Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge.

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The president of the American Police Foundation said he has "never worked with cops with a blatant racial bias" in his 33 years in the Southern California police force.

Chief Jim Bueermann said "human beings have implicit biases" and training to deal with those biases needs to "be taken to scale in the United States and wrapped around the entire culture of policing".