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'Heartbreaking': Dallas police shooting victim Brent Thompson recently married

Brent Thompson, one of the five officers killed by a sniper in Dallas, was remembered Friday by his colleagues as a "great officer."
/ Source: TODAY

Brent Thompson, one of the five officers killed by a sniper in Dallas, was remembered Friday by his colleagues as a "great officer," but also as a newlywed who recently walked down the aisle.

"He was recently married in the last two weeks, so this is very heartbreaking," Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority chief James Spiller told TODAY Friday.

"Brent was a great officer. We will definitely miss him. But we are also making sure that his family is taken care of," Spiller said.

Thompson, 43, was the first person killed in the line of duty in the 27-year history of the transit force. He joined DART in 2009, according to a posting on the group's website.

"We lost a member in blue and we have received sympathies and calls and emails from all across the country," Spiller said.

RELATED: Dallas shooting witnesses describe 'fear, terror, frustration' of protest attack

Much of downtown Dallas was in lockdown Friday after 12 officers were shot, five fatally, during a peaceful protest over the deadly police shootings of black men across in the country.

The ambush is the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Three suspects were in custody and a fourth was killed after the detonation of a bomb early Friday morning, officials said. A senior law enforcement official told NBC News the fourth suspect is believed to be Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, from the Dallas area.

Earlier on TODAY, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings described the shooting as "a terrible blow to the city of Dallas and a terrible blow to the United States of America."

"We’re hopeful that we’ve got everybody, but we don’t know for sure," Rawlings said. The mayor also revealed that the suspects in custody were not cooperating.

"They're being pretty tight-lipped," Rawlings explained.

Video taken immediately after the shooting began revealed the frantic nature of the moment.

"I didn't see anybody else get shot, just the cops. I saw cops getting shot, right there in plain sight," witness Cortney Washington told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

Speaking from Poland, President Obama decried the shooting as "vicious" and "callous."

"I believe I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas," the president said.