Guns used in police ambush were taken, returned in '13

Brett Shipp and David Goins | WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth

PARIS, Texas — Authorities say the weapons found on the man killed by Dallas police after a weekend attack on police headquarters match guns and ammunition confiscated then returned to him two years ago.

When James Boulware was arrested in May 2013 on assault charges out of Dallas, police confiscated a long range hunting rifle with scope, a 12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger rifle, a 45 revolver, a 9 mm, semi-automatic pistol, a camouflage flak jacket and body armor and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

No one was injured in Saturday's attack, even though Boulware — angry over a child custody battle — had raked the lobby and second floor of the Dallas police headquarters from several angles, shattering glass and sending officers scrambling. He also planted pipe bombs packed with shrapnel at the headquarters, rammed a police car and opened fire again before speeding off.

After leading officers on a 10-mile chase, he pulled the vehicle into a parking lot near a Jack in the Box restaurant in the town of Hutchins, about 12 miles south of Dallas, Police Chief David Brown said.

After negotiations by cellphone with the gunman broke down, a SWAT team sniper shot him through the windshield. Police waited to approach the vehicle out of concern that it was rigged with explosives.

He was accused of choking his mother and uncle before fleeing to his brother's home in Paris, Texas.

Lamar County Sheriff Scott Cass and his deputies were waiting to arrest him.

"Somewhere in the altercation he had made a threat to shoot up schools or businesses or churches so definitely we took the necessary precautions here," said Cass.

Cass said Lamar County Schools were put on lockdown. His deputies waited for him to show up at his house where he stopped briefly, then took off. Sheriff's deputies followed Boulware to a restaurant just a few blocks away.

When they searched his car, they didn't find any weapons, but they did find a bag of marijuana and a pipe.

He spent the next 21 days in jail for that offense before being turned over to authorities in Dallas. Cass said Boulware surrendered peacefully that day and granted them permission to search his home. That's where they found and confiscated the cache of weapons.

Six months later, the assault charges were dropped. A judge ordered Boulware's weapons returned.

Those same weapons were the ones Boulware used to carry out his assault on Dallas police Saturday.

Meanwhile, Boulware's parents said their son had signs of psychological problems more than 20 years ago.

But they said finding help for Boulware wasn't easy because their son wasn't willing to seek out the psychological help many felt he needed.

His father, Jim Boulware, said the world will probably only know his son for the five hours Saturday morning he spent attacking Dallas police headquarters before being killed by a sniper.

But his dad said problems for his son started much earlier.

"One time, (he) said he was going to commit suicide when he was 14," said Boulware. "I thought it was a little off, but his mother had him committed."

His father said James Boulware spent some time receiving care at a psychiatric facility but said he was unconvinced it helped his son or whether his son even needed the help.

Jeannine Hammond said her son in recent years knew he needed more help.

"He had all that time to get a psychological evaluation which he did not do," she said.

She said his refusal to get the evaluation is one reason Boulware lost custody of his 11-year-old son. The other is that he tried to strangle her in 2013.

Hammond said she dropped assault charges against her son because she didn't want him to have a felony record.

"I don't know if he loved me at the last but I still love him," Hammond said. "And I remember the little boy up there, the little red head in the picture and it just breaks my heart."

Hammond said she knew her son's mental health was poor, but getting him treatment wasn't easy.

In Texas, a mental health warrant is only issued when someone is exhibiting symptoms and poses an "immediate" threat to others.

"I will never say what he did was normal. I will never say that," his father said. "But, at what point in there do you 'get help?' And by whom do you get help?"

Contributing: Doug Stanglin and Jessica Estepa, USA TODAY. Goins reported from Dallas.