Gunman shot in Dallas attack
Print Edition
SNIPERS shot and presumably killed a man yesterday after he attacked the police headquarters in Dallas and planted bombs in a dramatic rampage in the Texas city, though there were no known links to terrorism.
Officers from the Dallas Police Department’s specialized SWAT unit shot the suspect through the front windshield of the armored van he used in his attack, then shortly afterward opened fire on him, Police Chief David Brown said.
Police officers did not directly approach the van due to the threat of explosives inside, Brown said.
It was still unclear at press time if the suspect had been killed in the gunfire, and SWAT team officers continued their hours-long standoff.
Police had earlier sent in a bomb disposal robot to examine the vehicle.
The culmination of a stunning night of violence began just after midnight when a van, described by witnesses as an armored vehicle, rammed into police squad cars at the headquarters and someone inside opened fire.
Police initially suggested there may have been up to four suspects, but Brown said police now believed that only one man shot from different angles and positions.
There was no connection to terrorism, the police chief said, adding that the incident stemmed from an issue surrounding custody of the suspect’s child.
“He doesn’t show to be in our databases on any terrorism watch list or anything like that,” Brown said. “So it may have just been a rant.”
The Dallas Police Association, which represents Dallas officers, tweeted that the suspect “had three family violence cases against him. (He) was very disgruntled against law enforcement and the criminal justice system.”
The suspect identified himself as James Boulware, but police were not immediately able to confirm his identity.
The suspect also planted at least one pipe bomb, which detonated as a bomb robot tried to move it.
No one was injured, but photographs published by police showed several vehicles were damaged in the blast.
Brown earlier said that a number of other pipe bombs had been found in one of four duffle bags that were “dispersed throughout the front and side of police headquarters.”
“I believe we’re blessed that our officers survived this ordeal,” Brown said.
“There are bullet holes in squad cars where officers were sitting. There are bullet holes in the lobby where staff was sitting,” he said.
“We believe this suspect meant to kill officers and took time to discharge that weapon multiple times.”
Following the gunfight, a chase ensued to Hutchins, a suburb south of the city, where officers surrounded the vehicle and more shots were traded. Several bullets hit police cars but no officers were injured.
At 4:35am, following attempts to negotiate with the suspect, snipers used a powerful .50-caliber rifle to disable the van’s engine block, then shot the suspect about half an hour later.
Cellphone video shot from a balcony or roof near the headquarters building showed the suspect’s dark-colored van ram a squad car as gunshots ring out.
A police spokesman, Major Max Geron, said investigators think the suspect fired a number of shots from his van while it was parked in front of police headquarters, which is across the street from a boutique hotel. He said the suspect then apparently began firing on squad cars before he rammed his van into one of them.
Anita Grendahl was asleep in her seventh floor apartment across from police headquarters when she heard gunshots.
“We just woke up to a few pops and thought someone was on my balcony, then looked outside and saw the van crash into the car,” she said.
Ladarrick Alexander and his fiancee, Laquita Davis, were driving to their apartment near the police station when they heard 15 to 20 gunshots in quick succession.
Seconds later, police could be seen swarming an unmarked van, they said.
They turned around and were parked outside the police perimeter about two blocks away, where they heard the sound of one detonation at about 4:30am and saw smoke rising into the air.
Soon after the suspect was shot, people were allowed to return to their homes close to the police headquarters, and public transport resumed in the area.
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