Shaken Dallas police officers surveyed the shattered glass and pockmarked lobby of the department's headquarters after an armed man declared war on a system he believed cost him custody of his son, reports the Dallas Morning News. The shell of a squad car looked as if it could have been on the streets of Beirut, with seven bullet holes in the windshield, ripped seat backs, partially severed seat belts, blown-out back and side windows. Miraculously, no officers were injured. Authorities are struggling to understand what set off James Boulware, a 35-year-old unemployed mechanic. About 12:30 a.m. Saturday, he drove up in a van and approached the building, which features an expansive wall of glass. He swung up a semiautomatic weapon and sprayed at least 40 rounds through the windows and into the lobby. Videos show the van ramming a squad car and two police officers sprinting away as Boulware fired several shots into the vehicle.
He then slowly backed up and started to drive away as police returned fire. A convoy of police cars chased the van with multiple gun ports through downtown and onto Interstate 45, headed south. About 10 miles south of Dallas, police surrounded the vehicle near a fast-food restaurant. After a spasm of gunfire, SWAT team members called Boulware's cellphone and began trying to talk him out of the vehicle. Boulware identified himself and said he attacked the police headquarters because officers took his child and called him a terrorist. After more than four hours, SWAT team members believed negotiations with Boulware were deteriorating. After 5 a.m., a sniper killed Boulware with a .50-caliber rifle. (CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield said yesterday she had misspoken by calling Boulware’s assault “courageous and brave.”)