DALLAS — The man accused of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer and wounding two others Thursday night has been identified as a 30-year-old former truck driver whose social media accounts were recently filled with apocalyptic and pseudo-religious rants.
The suspect, Corey Cobb-Bey, lived in a guest house behind his parent's home on Hortense Avenue in southern Dallas, north of Ledbetter Drive and east of South Marsalis Avenue, his father Emery Cobb said. That’s about a mile from where three Dallas officers were shot just after 10 p.m. on Thursday night.
Emery Cobb said police knocked on his door at about 2 a.m. Friday with a search warrant and began going through the house. They took some of Corey’s computer equipment and magazines from his gun, the father said.
The father said his son began acting strange in recent days — talking about demons and being “followed” by police.
"I think he might’ve smoked something that was laced with something," his father said, "because he never act anything like that."
He said Corey Cobb was a loving son to him.
"I think I raised him upright," he said. "We had him in church ... at the beginning and he was on a healthy food diet."
His son also lost his job as a trucker in the past couple of weeks.
"That may have took a toll on him," his father said.
The day of the shooting, Aug. 29, Corey Cobb-Bey posted a night video apparently of a drone in the sky.
“You see these devils?” he said, narrating the video. “They know who we are.”
On Wednesday, he posted a video while driving, claiming “demons” in a black SUV were “following” him in traffic. He also posted screenshots from the Bible quoting Revelations about people being “cast … into the furnace of fire.”
Most chilling, though, is a video he posted Tuesday where he approaches officers from an unknown police department in an unmarked white SUV. They partially roll down the passenger window.
“Is there any problem officers?” Corey Cobb-Bey asked.
“No,” one of the officers answered.
“Is there any criminal activity that we need to be aware about?” Corey Cobb-Bey asked.
“All good man,” an officer inside answered.
“OK, thank you,” Corey Cobb-Bey said, and then walked away.
In another post, Corey Cobb-Bey confronts a man who isn’t shown on camera but sounds intoxicated. Corey Cobb-Bey threatens to call the police on him if he doesn’t leave.
Here, Corey Cobb-Bey shows off a semiautomatic pistol and a rifle with a high-capacity drum magazine, writing that they are his “home defense arsenal.”
Corey Cobb-Bey writes and makes videos on Facebook and Instagram most often about how he identifies as a Moor, an ethnicity that has roots in Africa and Europe.
On March 4, he posted a clip of former President Donald Trump at the Texas-Mexico border criticizing the Biden Administration. They are “letting people that isn’t citizens and that haven’t built this country to come in undocumented and getting all of the benefits that we the citizens (especially the nationals/moors/true Americans) post to be getting and now they causing chaos and mayhem … within North America…”
The Moorish Science Temple of America released a statement saying in part:
Our teachings at the Moorish Science Temple of America are rooted in these principles, and we unequivocally state that we do not tolerate any form of violence Our mission is to uplift fallen humanity by teaching individuals to be their true selves and to practice these core principles in their daily lives.
We stand in solidarity with the Dallas Community and its efforts to keep all citizens safe...we extend our deepest condolences to the officer who lost his life. We stand united in our efforts to foster a community where peace and justice prevail.
Full interview here: