4 police officers shot dead in Dallas protest

Washington, July 8 At least four police officers were shot dead and sever others injured on Thursday night after two snipers opened fire during a protest in Dallas over the recent fatal police shootings of black men in the US.

In a statement, police said of the seven injured, three are in "critical" condition and two others still in surgery, EFE news reported.

The whereabouts of the suspects is still unknown and police has requested the cooperation of citizens.

According to officials, one of the suspects would have been killed, while another possible suspect wearing a bullet-proof vest is in a downtown Dallas parking garage, which is being evacuated by the authorities.

Dallas police Chief David Brown also told the media that they "believe that the suspects have threatened to plant a bomb in the downtown area."

Police released a photograph of a "person of interest" in the case, a young man, black and burly, wearing a military shirt and carrying what looks like a rifle in the image, and asked for public assistance to identify him.

Gunfire broke out late Thursday during an otherwise peaceful protest over the deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. 

Castile, 32, was shot by a police officer after a traffic stop on Wednesday. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds went live on Facebook immediately after her fiance was shot by police in his car.

Castile later died from his wounds. In the video, Reynolds' four-year-old daughter is seen watching the incident from the back seat.

According to Reynolds, the police had pulled their car over for a broken tail light in Falcon Heights district.

Castile's death occurred within a day of the shooting of 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, CNN reported.

Sterling was killed during an altercation with two white police officers and a video of the incident recorded by a bystander on his smartphone triggered outcry on social media.

All across the US, people vented their anger over the killings of the two black men in two days.

The protesters chanted "Hands up, don't shoot," the line made famous in the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.