DALLAS, Texas – New details have emerged about the family of Joshua Jahn, the 29-year-old gunman who carried out Wednesday’s deadly sniper attack outside a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas. Online investigators and conservative commentators have identified his mother, Sharon Jahn, as a political activist with outspoken left-leaning views, sparking debate over whether her beliefs influenced her son’s actions.
According to a review of her publicly available Facebook account, Sharon Jahn describes herself as a former school administrator and University of Kansas alum. Her social media activity shows she follows a number of progressive and activist pages, including “Call to Activism,” “The Resistance,” and the “U.S. Democratic Socialists.” Several posts also reflect her criticism of Republican leaders in Texas over their support of the Second Amendment and expansion of gun rights.
Conservative activist Laura Loomer amplified the connection in a viral post on X, identifying Sharon Jahn as the shooter’s mother. Loomer accused her of being a Democrat who “spews hatred on social media” toward pro-gun lawmakers, suggesting that her political stance contributed to her son’s radicalization. She wrote, “Joshua Jahn is a radical Leftist with a Democrat mother. Just another example of failed Democrat parenting.”
Past Facebook posts by Sharon Jahn have also resurfaced, including one from May 2022 in which she criticized Texas officials following the Uvalde school shooting. In that post, she accused Governor Greg Abbott and Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of prioritizing “blood money” from the gun lobby over the lives of children. She wrote that their loosening of gun laws had “blood on their hands” and expressed frustration at what she described as cowardice in the face of the NRA.
The resurfacing of her comments has triggered strong reactions online, with critics suggesting her rhetoric may have shaped her son’s worldview. Others, however, have cautioned against assigning blame to a parent for the actions of an adult child, noting that investigators have not identified a clear motive for Jahn’s attack.
Authorities continue to investigate Jahn’s background, movements, and possible motivations in the sniper assault that left three detainees dead and another critically injured. For now, scrutiny has widened to his family, as political debates intensify over the intersections of ideology, gun violence, and accountability.