US Army discharged Dallas sniper Micah Johnson for stealing a female soldier's knickers

The Dallas sniper who killed five police officers was discharged from the US Army after being accused of stealing a female soldier's knickers, it has been claimed. Micah Xavier Johnson, from the city, was killed by a police bomb disposal robot on the night of 7 July.

It emerged soon after that he was a member of the US Army Reserve force, who was discharged after being accused of sexually harassing another soldier. The soldier allegedly told her superiors that she suspected Johnson had mental health problems.

The woman, who had made the complaint, was said to have been a friend of Johnson's who had visited and stayed overnight at the family's house in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, even "sleeping in the same bed" as Johnson his mother has said.

Johnson's military career began in March 2009 when he joined the US Army Reserve – a part-time military force that supplements the US Army, along with the National Guard. Johnson served in a troop programme unit in Seagoville Texas for four-and-a-half years.

He was then deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, serving one tour of duty in the country. Whilst in the Army Reserve, Johnson specialised in carpentry and masonry.

His former friend filed a sexual harassment complaint against Johnson while they were in Afghanistan together from November 2013 to May 2014. Retired Army Sergeant Gilbert Fischbach, Johnson's former squad leader in Texas, told the AP that Johnson had taken the woman's laundry along with his to be washed, but returned without a pair of her knickers.

Missing underwear

The woman initially believed that Afghans soldiers may have stolen them. But after they denied it the soldiers' quarters were searched. Johnson was said to have been caught red-handed trying to dispose of her dirty underwear, said Fischbach.

The woman filed a complaint and sought a protective order against Johnson. Subsequently, he was placed under a humiliating 24-hour escort that accompanied him even in the shower. Johnson's mother, Delphene Johnson, said the woman had done "things that she should not have been doing with someone in a higher ranking. He called her out on it" in an interview with The Blaze.

In July 2014, Johnson was sent home from the warzone. In September 2014, Johnson signed paperwork agreeing to receive a "less than honourable" discharge from the Army, according to Texas-based defence attorney Bradford Glendening.