
A photographer has captured these powerful images of a Dallas policeman who protected him for hours on Thursday night while gunman Micah Xavier Johnson sniped at cops from a parking garage just feet away.

Robert Moore said he was attending the Dallas protest over the killings of African Americans by police, which was taking place near his downtown apartment, when gunshots began ringing out.

Moore, 61, told the Huffington Post that he watched in horror as one officer got hit and dropped to the ground before 'the gunfire really opened up.'

He dived behind a car to get away from the flying bullets, and was kept in place by three officers crouched alongside him who covered him for hours while their colleagues cornered Johnson and eventually killed him using explosives strapped to a robot.

Speaking about the officer in his photos, Moore said: 'That guy was calm, controlled, very professional. To be in the presence of someone with such command lends an air of assuredness to the people around that things are going to be OK.'

After two hours a break in the shooting came and the officer stood up, creating a human shield for Moore to hide behind, before they 'hastily' made their way back to the main police line.

In total five officers were killed in the attack, while another seven were wounded but survived. Two civilians were also caught up in the crossfire and wounded, but escaped with their lives.

Robert Moore took these pictures of a Dallas cop who shielded him from gunfire for two hours on Thursday night as gunman Micah Xavier Johnson sniped off police officers from a garage just feet away

Moore said he was photographing the protest against the killing of African Americans by police just feet from his apartment when shots started ringing out and police forced him down behind the car

The police sheltered behind the car with Moore for two hours until there was a break in the shooting, at which point the officer pictured stood up, created a human shield for him, and walked him back to the main police line