Dallas police shoot dead gunman who planted EXPLOSIVES

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Gunman, believed to be James Boulware, 35, opened fire Friday night
Pumped bullets into HQ building, rammed patrol car with van then fled
Was cornered in Jack In The Box parking lot in nearby Hutchins, Texas
Believed to have been killed by police sniper fire around 5am
Officers later confirmed kill and found two more pipe bombs in van
Reportedly blamed police for losing custody of his son in 911 rant

By Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com and Thomas Burrows for MailOnline

Published: 04:59 EST, 13 June 2015 | Updated: 23:16 EST, 13 June 2015

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'Attacker': Police say one gunman identified himself as James Boulware (above) - a man from Paris, Texas, with a history of family violence

Police in Dallas have shot dead a ranting gunman who attacked their headquarters after cornering him in a nine-hour stand-off.

A SWAT sniper hit the attacker, who identified himself as James Boulware, 35, around 5am after chasing him into a Jack In The Box parking lot.

He had earlier rammed an armored van into a police cruisers and pumped dozens of bullets into the main police building in the Texas city, prompting a midnight chase down the freeway.

Boulware, who also planted explosives around police headquarters, accused police of taking his son from him and claiming he was a terrorist in a furious rant to 911 dispatchers after the attack.

Dallas Police chief David Brown said that officers tried to negotiate with Boulware, but that discussions devolved into furious rants, which convinced the SWAT Team that their only option was to use lethal force.

It took another eight hours for officers to definitively confirm the kill.

They used robots to approach the van, which he said he had packed with C4 explosives.

Officers said that bomb disposal machines found at least two pipe bombs inside the vans.

While police were trying to detonate the devices under controlled conditions, one of the bomb blasts set light to other explosives in the van, starting a fire. Police say the pipe bombs were stuffed with screws, nails and other shrapnel.

One bomb planted close to police HQ exploded on contact.

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Van on fire: Boulware's van caught fire after police detonated one of at least two pipe bombs they found inside

Confirmation? Police sent in a bomb disposal robot to check whether Boulware was dead at the scene of the shootout after he was hit by a police sniper round

Scene: Massed police cars can be seen in front of the van in the shot above, with the bomb disposal robot nexdt to it

Approach: A police officer and FBI agent are seen not far from the van, which later burst into flames

Ram: The armored van is pictured above around midnight Friday about to slam into a patrol car outside the police HQ in Dallas, Texas

This was the dramatic scene outside the Dallas Police headquarters after a gang opened fire which led to a police car chase which ended at a fast food parking lot

Shot dead: Police say a sniper shot Boulware around 5am. Pictured above are two officers at the scene with a sniper rifle

Father of suspect killed after attack on Dallas police speaks

CNN footage showed a robot approaching the van and attempting to break the windshield at get to Boulware. Officers then started firing at it sniper rounds instead.

Officers initially believed that as many as four gunmen were involved in the attack.

But at a news conference Saturday morning they said they now believe Boulware acted alone, but fired so many rounds that witnesses mistakenly believed several men must have been attacking.

Images of the headquarters and patrol cars which were caught up in the crossfire show both riddled with bullets, fired from an automatic weapon.

No officers were killed in the exchange, which Police Chief Brown described as a miracle.

Automatic weapons blazed out in the Texas city around midnight after Boulware rammed his armored van into a police car then fled.

Police were taking cover next to a cruiser when the van sped towards them from round a corner and hit - but they managed to jump out of the way in time.

Boulware then backed up and sped down the street amid a hail of gunfire, video uploaded to social media showed.

Dallas police: Shooting suspect has been shot after attack

Cornered: Police chased the gunmen to a parking lot not far from this intersection on the I-45, where a stand-off continues

Suiting up: Police officers are pictured above preparing weapons to enter the stand-off with the gunmen

Heavy: A Dallas SWAT officer heads to the scene, where the gunmen have been holed up for hours

Officers gave chase down the freeway, and have said they believe multiple gunmen are inside the vehicle.

At some point after the initial attack, police say he called 911 and embarked on a five-minute rant at police, threatening to 'blow up' officers as revenge for taking his son and apparently accusing him of being a terrorist.

SAVED BY A COKE: OFFICER 'WOULD HAVE DIED' WITHOUT SODA BREAK

One Dallas police officer was sat directly in the path of Boulware's hail of bullets - but escaped death because they got up to grab a Coca-Cola.

Describing how close his officers came to death, Police Chief David Brown said one staff member on duty inside HQ was sat right in Boulware's line of fire.

The officer, he said, ended up dodging the hail of bullets because he got up for a coke moments before the attack began.

Boulware had been through a custody dispute over his son, and had reportedly threatened judges before over his contact with the boy. Police said it is not clear why Boulware thought he was accused of terrorism.

Jim Boulware, the suspect's father, spoke to the Dallas Morning News on Saturday, and seemed to confirm that his son was involved.

He told the newspaper that he saw his son on Friday night and 'noticed a strange van', though never believed he was capable of an armed raid on police.

He said: 'He blames the police for taking his son away from him. I tried to tell him that the police are just doing their job.'

The chase ended in a fast food parking lot in the nearby suburb of Hutchins, where the gunmen and officers exchanged fire again.

During the stand-off, police called Boulware, who began to talk with officers but reportedly got so angry that he hung up time after time.

Police Chief Brown described the exchanges as 'on-again-off-again negotiations'.

He said: 'He would get angry and stop talking. He would rant. At some point negotiations just ceased - on his end.'

Boulware also told officers that he had loaded the van with C4, a military-grade explosive, and that it would explode if they approached.

At 4:35am police snipers opened fire on his van. Police said that first they shot out the engine so that he couldn't drive off anywhere else.

Videos posted to social media show terror of Dallas shooting

Pipe bombs: Police said they found explosives near police headquarters. Pictured is the damage to vehicles after a police robot tried to disarm one of them. Another explosive was also found

Moment van smashes into Dallas police car and drives off

At 5:07am a sniper shot Boulware through his van windshield. The shot is was fatal - though it took officers until around midday to be absolutely sure he had died.

Officers later found two pipe bombs, made with more conventional black gunpowder, rather than the threatened C4, inside the vehicle.

Meanwhile, police uncovered as many as five bombs planted around police headquarters.

Hail of bullets: Pictured is the scene from inside the Dallas Police Department the day after the attack

'Miracle': Leaders of the police department could hardly believe no officers were hurt amid all the gunfire. Pictured are booths in the lobby of the building

One of the suspicious packages exploded on contact, damaging a bomb disposal robot and several cars. Police said their officers 'almost tripped over it' while searching in the night.

Another package was destroyed under a controlled detonation, while three others were found not to be bombs after all.

Surrounding apartments and businesses had been evacuated after the initial attack, but as of around 8:30am police said residents were being allowed back into their homes.

Hail of bullets: Pictured above is damage to a Dallas patrol car after the gunmen sprayed it with bullets. No police officers were injured in the attack

Dallas Police Chief updates on stand-off after gunmen open fire