DALLAS — A man planted pipe bombs outside of Dallas police headquarters early Saturday before opening fire on the building and officers who tried to stop him, spraying the building and a squad car with bullets during a wild street battle but injuring no one.
After cornering the fleeing suspect’s van in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in the suburb of Hutchins, a police sniper shot and killed him after it was determined he still posed enough of a threat, Police Chief David Brown said.
Authorities said they wouldn’t release his identity until a medical examiner had confirmed it. At a news conference before they confirmed his death, Brown said the gunman had identified himself as James Boulware and had said he blamed police for having lost custody of his son and for “accusing him of being a terrorist.”
Authorities said it was remarkable that no one else was killed or injured in the attack. According to police, the suspect apparently opened fire on the building from his parked van. Bullets pierced the glass at the entrance and caused damage inside, including at the front desk, where the worker on duty had just gone to get a soft drink.
He also fired on officers who drove up to confront him, riddling squad cars with bullets but not actually hitting anyone. Cellphone video shot from a nearby balcony or roof showed the suspect’s dark-colored van ram a squad car as gunshots rang out. The van then fled, eventually stopping in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in the suburb of Hutchins, where the standoff ensued.
Investigators found a package of pipe bombs in the parking lot of the headquarters building and at least two more pipe bombs in the van, police said.
The suspect had told police negotiators that he had explosives in the van, and Brown said at a news conference that the department decided to shoot him because it felt he still posed enough of a threat. After the suspect was confirmed dead, the van caught fire due to the explosives inside, police said.
“When the negotiation was on, he became increasingly angry and threatening, such that we were not only concerned with our officers there trying to contain the scene being shot by him at a moment’s notice,” but also people nearby, Brown said.
