DALLAS — The family of Brian Isaack Clyde says they don’t recognize the man who fired at the federal courthouse in downtown Dallas Monday.
“We are flabbergasted. And stunned as everyone else is,” said Heather Clyde, Brian’s stepmother.
Heather Clyde met Brian when he was just 2-years-old. She married his father when Brian was 4-years-old.
“He just wasn’t the person that was there downtown Monday morning. He just wasn’t. That’s not who we knew. We didn’t even recognize him when we saw the pictures," she said.
Brian Clyde, 22, opened fire on the federal courthouse building Monday morning. He exchanged gunfire with federal officers, FBI officials said.
Video of the shooting appears to show Clyde fire inside the building from outside. He appears to be wearing tactical gear. He runs from the building and across Jackson Street before collapsing in the parking lot.
Clyde had more than five 30-round magazines on him, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno.
“We’re so grateful no one was hurt or killed,” said Heather. “That would’ve been a whole other realm of hell added having that. Because in the end, whether it makes sense or not, whether it’s real or not, it rests on your conscience as a parent.”
Clyde went to high school in Austin and spent some time here in Dallas ISD at Woodrow Wilson High School.
He later joined the Army in 2015.
“Brian wanted to be like his dad who is a first sergeant in the Army reserves,” said Heather. “(Brian’s dad) was active duty when he was younger.”
Brian served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army from August 2015 to February 2017.
“It wasn’t a fit for what he saw the military being,” Heather Clyde said.
Brian graduated in May from Delmar College in Corpus Christi with an associate’s degree of applied science in nondestructive testing technology. The college said he was an outstanding student. Shortly after graduating, he got a job.
“We have a vacation coming up, and he said he couldn’t go because he didn’t have the time yet with his new job,” Heather Clyde said.
Brian Clyde spent about a week living with Heather and his father at their home in Plano before moving to an apartment in Fort Worth.
But the man did not spent Father’s Day with his family. The last text Brian sent to his father was a text that read, "Happy Father's Day, Daddy."
Heather Clyde says the last time they saw him was the weekend before.
“We were cooking together, and he said that we need to cook together again soon. He always was making statements about the future," she said.
Hours after he was killed in an exchange of gunfire, his social media was under scrutiny by law enforcement in search of a motive. Pictures on his Facebook page showed weapons and ammunition.
“I asked him once. I said, ‘Why do you post those memes that don’t make any sense?’ And he said that he likes reactions when people don’t understand. He just likes to get the reaction,” Heather Clyde said.
“He liked what he called nerd-stuff, which he had in common with my daughter. And that rolls into the sword fascination and cosplay. He used to do cosplay and he was talking to my daughter about getting back into it," she said.
Heather Clyde and her husband, Brian’s father, have spent hours discussing a possible motive for Monday’s shooting, debating if the 22-year-old wanted to be killed by law enforcement.
“(Brian) knew that there’d already been a shooting down there. He knew that it was a well-armed area. And he didn’t seem to have a strategic plan in place. He didn’t have real body armor on,” said Heather. “That’s what’s driving us crazy is we actually will never know.”
Family members came and went through the family's Plano home Wednesday afternoon. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
“(Brian’s dad) is not doing great. He’s working through the details that need to happen and that’s giving him some direction right now, but it’s hard. He lost his son. Nobody wants their child to precede them ever. So he said last night that his worst nightmare came true."
WFAA coverage of courthouse shooting:
- 'It seemed like an hour': Potential jurors stuck inside courthouse during attack took cover, prayed
- Raw video captures shootout between gunman, officers outside federal courthouse
- Gunman killed in shootout with officers outside federal courthouse in downtown Dallas
- What we know about Brian Clyde
- Photographer caught in Dallas federal building crossfire tells his story