A gunman in Tennessee who opened fire on Thursday was targeting white people and police after becoming angry at recent confrontations between cops and African Americans, officers say.

Lakeen Keon Scott, 37, killed 44-year-old postal worker and mother-of-two Jennifer Rooney, and wounded police officer Matthew Cousins, hotel worker Deborah Watts and passerby David Whitman Davis during an attack at 2am in the town of Bristol.

Now agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say Scott 'may have targeted people and officers' because of racially charged police incidents across the country, later adding that all of the victims are white.

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Lakeen Keon Scott, 37, who opened fire on Thursday morning in Bristol, Tennessee, killing a postal worker and injuring three others was targeting white people and police, investigators say

Jennifer Rooney (far left and right), a 44-year-old postal worker and mother-of-two, was hit and killed as she drove past the scene, while hotel worker Deborah Watts and passerby David Whitman Davis were also hurt

Scott's attack came just hours before the fatal shooting of five police officers in Dallas on Thursday night in the deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11.

Gunman Micah Xavier Johnson told hostage negotiators that he was 'angry at white people' and had targeted them during his rampage, and 'especially white officers'.

Officer Matthew Cousins was shot in the leg after he responded to the scene and came under fire from Scott, who was eventually wounded and captured

Meanwhile, police say officers have also been targeted in Georgia and Missouri after the high profile shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men, earlier this week.

Agents in Tennessee say Scott carried out his attack with an assault rifle, a pistol and a large amount of ammunition, firing thought the windows of a Days Inn hotel.

The front desk clerk, Deborah Watts, was struck and injured and is now in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Days Inn owner Kiran Patel said he awoke to the sound of gunfire. His wife called the front desk to see what happened, Watts answered and said she'd been shot.

Newspaper carrier Jennifer Rooney, a 44-year-old mother of two, was driving on her way to pick up papers for the morning delivery when a bullet struck her.

The Bristol Herald-Courier reported that her car careened over a median and crashed through a chain link fence.

David Whitman Davis was also injured by flying glass from the gunfire, the TBI said.

Three officers with the Bristol Tennessee Police Department arrived and confronted Scott, who fired on them, hitting officer Matthew Cousins in the leg.

Cousins was treated for superficial injuries and later released. Scott was stuck by officers and remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the investigation is ongoing as they work to understand the shooter's motive.

Scott carried out his attack after becoming enraged at several racially charged police incidents in America, investigators have revealed

Scott engaged police with an assault-style weapon, a handgun and multiple extra rounds of ammunition before being shot, and is now in hospital in serious but stable condition

Police say Scott fired several rounds into a Days Inn hotel (pictured), hitting front desk worker Deborah Watts, before turning his weapon on passing traffic

The shootings are part of a spate of attacks on officers across the U.S.

In south Georgia, police said one officer was ambushed Friday when he came to an apartment complex to investigate a report of a break-in.