Dallas police headquarters attacked with gunfire, explosives

The Dallas Police Department headquarters came under attack early Saturday morning after at least one gunman opened fire at officers and planted at least two explosive devices, including a bag filled with pipe bombs, near police vehicles.

The attack began around 12:30 a.m. local time, according to Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown. A gunman opened fire on the headquarters with automatic weapons from inside a parked armored van, sparking a shootout.

Dallas police officer running for his life after realizing the threat was the armored van! pic.twitter.com/TRjePXFZJS

— Germanito006 (@germanito006) June 13, 2015

The van then rammed a police car and attempted to flee the scene and was chased by officers to a nearby Jack in the Box restaurant.

A second shootout took place, and police disabled the van after the individual inside the vehicle fired at squad cars and refused to surrender.

The standoff continued into the morning hours.

Wow crazy video from a Dallas PD shootout RT @madwho12: Armored van lured police, fired upon, and rammed police pic.twitter.com/UZqtPYi4N2

— Kenny Holmes (@KHOLMESlive) June 13, 2015

According to Brown, the gunman inside the van identified himself as James Boulware, but his identity was not immediately verified by police.

{mosads}Brown said Boulware was known to police and had previously made threats against law enforcement officials.

The man claiming to be Boulware “has told our negotiators that we took his child and we accused him of being a terrorist,” per Brown, “and that he’s going to blow us up” before cutting off negotiations.

Boulware is described by Brown as being “a white male, 5’10”, 200 pounds.

Here’s the #DallasPDShooting suspect James Boulware. Record includes Family Violence & Possession of Marijuana. pic.twitter.com/0NJ0MNizUi

— Mireya CBS11 (@cbsmireya) June 13, 2015

In an early morning presser, Brown revealed that a SWAT team sniper shot the suspect in the van, and he is believed to be deceased. However, officers had yet to approach the vehicle, as the suspect previously told negotiators he had rigged it with exposives.

The Dallas Police Department officially confirmed Saturday afternoon that the suspect was indeed dead.

Brown initially reported that the attack may have been carried out by as many as four suspects, but later said it was believed that a single suspect fired as officers from multiple positions, leading to the impression that multiple individuals were involved.

Here are some pictures of the damage at HQ. pic.twitter.com/ic18axSTPO

— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) June 13, 2015

No officers were injured in the attack, but an Explosive Ordinance Robot was lightly damaged as it attempted to move one of the explosive devices planted in the attack.

“I believed we are blessed that our officers survived this event,” Police Chief Brown told reporters.

This is where the Explosive Ordinance Robot attempted to move one of the bags. #DallasPDShooting pic.twitter.com/mgbgytBhWv

— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) June 13, 2015

#DallasPDShooting. Eyewitness Video #5. pic.twitter.com/DDBr5Shuh7

— deray mckesson (@deray) June 13, 2015

— This post was updated at 2:00 p.m.