A Dallas SWAT officer walks to his vehicle at the intersection of Interstate 45 and E Palestine Street, where police cornered the suspect in his van on Saturday. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Officers had been wary of approaching or entering the van all morning because the driver had declared it contained military-grade C4 explosives, they said.
Police fired at the man while he was inside the armoured vehicle at a parking lot in suburban Hutchins, south of Dallas, where he had been in a standoff with SWAT team officers.
Police Chief David Brown said a sniper hit the suspect and that officers had lost contact with him for several hours afterward.
Geron tweeted that a .50-calibre rifle was used to fire two shots into the van’s engine block and one into the driver.
The shooter who opened fire on Dallas police headquarters declared himself to be James Boulware, seen here, but police were still working to confirm that. (Dallas County Sheriff’s Department )
Hours earlier, witnesses said the driver fired several rounds at officers outside the headquarters building and rammed his van into a squad car before fleeing.
No one was injured in the gunfire.
“This suspect had already shot at our facility, had rammed a car, shot at officers, and two officers narrowly escaped being shot by the suspect,” Brown said. “Then the suspect fled in a vehicle. We chased him.”
Shortly after the headquarters shooting, police found four duffel bags scattered around the building, one of which had pipe bombs inside. That bag exploded as a robot attempted to remove it, but no one was injured, Brown said. Nearby residents were told to leave the area, he said.
Brown earlier told reporters police were investigating witness accounts that as many as four individuals may have been firing automatic weapons. However, he later said police believe there is only one suspected shooter. He said a motive was not yet known.
“We barely survived the intent of this suspect,” he said.
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Police set off two controlled detonations after saying they found pipe bombs inside the van of a man suspected of opening fire on their Dallas headquarters and confirmed the shooter is dead.
Police said earlier that they had found two pipe bombs in the armoured van, which the shooter used to launch an assault on police HQ at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
“At least two additional pipe bombs found inside susp veh.,” Dallas police Maj. Max Geron tweeted.
#Breaking We can now confirm that the susp in the van is deceased but unable to confirm ID pending Med Ex. identification #DallasPDShooting
— @MaxDPD
Geron also confirmed that the driver of the van was killed — either by a police sniper who shot at the van at around 5:30 a.m. during the hours-long standoff between him and police or in the controlled detonations.
A Dallas SWAT officer walks to his vehicle at the intersection of Interstate 45 and E Palestine Street, where police cornered the suspect in his van on Saturday. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Officers had been wary of approaching or entering the van all morning because the driver had declared it contained military-grade C4 explosives, they said.
Police fired at the man while he was inside the armoured vehicle at a parking lot in suburban Hutchins, south of Dallas, where he had been in a standoff with SWAT team officers.
Police Chief David Brown said a sniper hit the suspect and that officers had lost contact with him for several hours afterward.
Geron tweeted that a .50-calibre rifle was used to fire two shots into the van’s engine block and one into the driver.
The shooter who opened fire on Dallas police headquarters declared himself to be James Boulware, seen here, but police were still working to confirm that. (Dallas County Sheriff’s Department )
Hours earlier, witnesses said the driver fired several rounds at officers outside the headquarters building and rammed his van into a squad car before fleeing.
No one was injured in the gunfire.
“This suspect had already shot at our facility, had rammed a car, shot at officers, and two officers narrowly escaped being shot by the suspect,” Brown said. “Then the suspect fled in a vehicle. We chased him.”
Shortly after the headquarters shooting, police found four duffel bags scattered around the building, one of which had pipe bombs inside. That bag exploded as a robot attempted to remove it, but no one was injured, Brown said. Nearby residents were told to leave the area, he said.
Brown earlier told reporters police were investigating witness accounts that as many as four individuals may have been firing automatic weapons. However, he later said police believe there is only one suspected shooter. He said a motive was not yet known.
“We barely survived the intent of this suspect,” he said.
.@jdmiles11 Yes 2 into engine block 3rd shot hit suspect through windshield. All w/.50 cal #DallasPDShooting
— @MaxDPD
#BREAKING inside @Dallaspd HQ riddled with bullet holes #DallasPDShooting pic.twitter.com/jIZqd78di9
— @MaxDPD
During the standoff in a fast-food restaurant parking lot in Hutchins, Brown said, police negotiators made contact with the driver, who identified himself as James Boulware. Police have not confirmed his identity.
Brown said Boulware — who had previously been in contact with police in connection with “three different family violence cases” — said at the scene that police had taken his son and had accused him of being a “terrorist.” Brown said he then threatened to “blow us up.”
A local CBS affiliate interviewed Boulware’s father, James, who told reporter J.D. Miles that his son was upset because of a child custody battle he was involved in with his mother because his ex-wife was in prison.
#DallasPDshooting suspect’s dad’s first words from my interview just moments ago pic.twitter.com/nqrYnquAUQ
— @jdmiles11
A video of the incident on social media showed a police officer approaching a black van with a flashlight as two other police cruisers pulled up behind the vehicle. The officer then abruptly turned and ran away and then a volley of gunshots could be heard.
In another video, the van could be seen ramming a police cruiser before gunfire rang out and the vehicle drove off.
There are reports the van appears to be outfitted with gun ports in the sides.
Police are reportedly investigating whether it is the same armoured van that was sold on eBay as a “zombie apocalypse assault vehicle” last week.
Armored van lured police, fired upon, and rammed police pic.twitter.com/luf2U1SMje
— @madwho12
Source:: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dallas-shooting-suspect-s-van-blown-up-by-police-shooter-confirmed-dead-1.3112320?cmp=rss
