Dallas Police HQ Attacked

Started very early this morning and stand off still going with suspects.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/13/us/dallas-police-headquarters-shooting/index.html

Explosives found, suspect cornered after gunfire targets Dallas police HQ

(CNN)At least one attacker opened fire on Dallas' police headquarters early Saturday, riddling windows and police cars with bullets before fleeing in a van to a suburban restaurant parking lot, where officers surrounded the vehicle in a standoff that has lasted for hours.

Officers exchanged gunfire with the attacker or attackers at both sites. And as dawn broke in Texas -- hours after the near-midnight attack began -- they still were watching the driver in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant in Hutchins, forcing authorities to close parts of nearby Interstate 45.

No injuries were immediately reported, but police were dealing with a parallel threat -- at least two pipe bombs that were found outside the police headquarters after the initial shooting.

One of the devices exploded as a bomb-squad robot tried to move it Saturday morning. Police posted a picture on Twitter that appeared to show that vehicles were damaged in the blast.

The bomb squad detonated the second device. Police later said they determined there was no longer a threat at the headquarters building, but they still were searching the area for more explosives.

Parts of the initial attack were caught on video by several people nearby, including residents of an apartment building across the street, some of whom were asked to evacuate after the explosives were found.

Witnesses told police they believed more than one person opened fire on the police building from various locations at about 12:20 a.m. (1:20 a.m. ET), and an attacker was in a vehicle that appeared to be an armored van.

"There might be up to four suspects," Police Chief David Brown said.

Windows shattered at police headquarters, and bullets pierced squad cars.

Police returned fire and gave chase as perhaps one or more suspects jumped into the van, the police chief said. Brown added that it appeared one person appeared not to make it on board in time, but it wasn't clear whether that person was arrested.

Video recorded by a witness and aired on CNN shows the dark van ramming the front of a police car before retreating in reverse.

SWAT team negotiates

Police pursued the van to the restaurant parking lot in Hutchins -- roughly 13 miles to the southeast of the Dallas police headquarters -- and a standoff began.

A SWAT team was negotiating with a suspect in the vehicle who gave the name James Boulware. Police said that they cannot independently confirm that it is the suspect's real identity.

Police found a previous record of domestic violence by a man under that name. The suspect told police that he was angry because they took away his child and labeled him a terrorist.

He threatened to blow them up and broke off negotiations, Brown said.

At one point, police used a .50-caliber rifle to "disable" the vehicle, police said.

Investigators are looking into whether a van sold in Newnan, Georgia, on eBay last week may be the van used in the Dallas attack, a source familiar with the investigation said. They are investigating, among other things, who may have purchased the vehicle.

Former Marine captured video

The crackling sound of the Dallas shootout got the attention of former Marine Rick Birt, who lives in a large loft and office building across the street from the headquarters.

"We heard loud noises, my wife asked if I thought they were shots," he said. "I went over to the window and put one of them up. And we heard more shots being fired, and I turned to my wife and said, 'Yeah, that's definitely gunfire.'"

He got his cell phone and recorded video. After the van fled, police informed him and his wife that they had to evacuate their building.

"They've instructed us that we may be out of our home for a while," he said.

Police had discovered the suspicious bags right across

 

Latest news is the suspect has been shot by LE sniper. They are sending a robot to see if he's still alive.

 

More info about the shooter from his family.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/14/us/dallas-police-headquarters-shooting/

Dallas shooter's father: My son hit his breaking point

Dallas (CNN)Hours before a sniper shot him during a standoff with police, James Boulware was helping out at his father's house, mowing the lawn and promising to come back again soon.

Now Jim Boulware sobs as he sits in his home, knowing his son will never return. The federal agents who brought bomb-sniffing dogs as they searched for evidence are gone. So is the armored van his son bought on eBay. And for the father of the man whose son died after unleashing a hale of bullets at police headquarters Saturday, a devastating reality is beginning to sink in.

"Everyone of us has a breaking point. ... He hit his," Jim Boulware told CNN.

Boulware says his son was boiling with anger over a custody battle and blamed police for taking his son away.

"I tried to tell him the police didn't do it," he said. "The police were doing their job to enforce the laws."

When his son stopped by recently, Boulware says he saw a strange-looking van out back. His son told him he'd bought the armored van on eBay and picked it up in Georgia this month so he could have somewhere to sleep.

"He said, 'Dad, I have lost my house, my tools, my son, I'm going through every dime I've got, I can't find a job because I got domestic violence on my record.' He said, 'I've lost everything.'"

'This suspect meant to kill officers'

Police say the gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire on Dallas police headquarters and planted explosives outside the building early Saturday before leading officers on a chase that ended at a restaurant parking lot.

Authorities confronted the man outside the Jack in the Box restaurant in the suburb of Hutchins.

Before he was shot, police say the suspect ranted to 911 dispatchers by phone, identifying himself as James Boulware and saying that police were responsible for taking his child away.

Police called him back, eventually allowing SWAT officers to negotiate.

But the man opened the door of his van, shot at police again and grew increasingly hostile and agitated when called on the phone.

After he made more threats, police snipers shot him through the windshield.

Officials have placed 14 police officers involved in the standoff on administrative leave while authorities continue their investigation into what happened, police said Sunday.

The suspect had told police that the van contained explosives, prompting them to call a bomb squad to inspect it.

"We believe this suspect meant to kill officers," Police Chief David Brown said. "We barely survived the intentions of this suspect."

Dallas police headquarters shooting timeline

Mom: 'I kept hoping he would straighten himself up'

Now the van is a burned-out shell after investigators detonated the explosives that had been planted inside.

And details of the shooter's troubled past are emerging.

Authorities say James Boulware had a record of domestic violence and custody issues. He also had a long history of mental illness, and his family struggled to handle it, according to his mother.

She said she'd considered having him committed, but worried that might drive him over the edge rather than helping.

"I really kept hoping he would straighten himself up," Jeannine Hammond told CNN. "But he couldn't. He really couldn't."

In April, Hammond won custody of her grandson from her son. During the trial, she said, her son was delusional, ranting in court and telling the jury he knew where Osama bin Laden had been hiding before U.S. forces killed the al Qaeda leader. It's something he'd done before, she said, claiming to loved ones that he knew about news events before they happened.

In the past, his mother said, he'd talked about wanting to shoot up a school, but not hit any students, so that officials would learn they needed armed guards to protect children.

"We all said no. And he really did not like that we did not agree with him on that," she said. "And that was the first indication I had that he ... might be going down the route he went down (Saturday)."

Still, Hammond said, she expected that if her son turned violent, she would have been the target.

"I would have thought that I would have been the one that he singled out, since I got custody of his child," she said.

A Dallas County judge told CNN she had extra security put in place after hearing the custody case.

"He was always a threat to us," family court Judge Kim Cooks said. "We just didn't know what he would do or when he would do it or what was going to happen. ... He would look at you as if he wanted to kill you."

Father: Custody battle devastated son

Jim Boulware says police had a right to respond the way they did, but that's only part of his son's story.

"He pulled a stupid act. But what led up to that?" he said. "You don't know what it's like to lose custody of your son. He loved that boy."

It's a feeling Jim Boulware is starting to experience, too.

"Now," he says as he blinks back tears, "I lost a son."