James Boulware Rampage: Family Of Crazed Father Shot Dead After Losing Custody Speaks Out

A nine-hour standoff with Dallas police resulted in crazed father and gunman, James Boulware, being shot dead yesterday, after losing a court case intended to gain custody of his children. Thirty-five-year-old Boulware is suspected of attacking Dallas police headquarters, spraying a barrage of bullets into the station before ramming cop cruisers in his van and fleeing the scene.

Family of Boulware have spoken out regarding James’ attitude in the run up the rampage, describing his anger and frustration at losing his custody battle. The mother of the gunman spoke about her son having suffered from delusions, including hearing voices, and “was obviously a very troubled young man.” The suspect’s father also commented, describing how Boulware had blamed police for the failure of his bid to win back custody of his 12-year-old son, although he never expected James to lash out the way he did, despite having a history of aggression and violence.

Jim Boulware had suspected his son would be likely to respond to his loss with violence although expected James’ anger to be directed towards his mother, Jeannine Hammond, who had been successfully re-granted custody of Boulware’s child back in April.

Charges had been dropped following an incident in 2013 in which Boulware had strangled his mother during a disagreement, shortly after Hammond had been granted custody of her grandchild for the first time, however it was the most recent loss of custody that family members believe finally broke James. Jim Boulware commented that James blamed the police department, and it had been this anger that prompted him to fire dozens of bullets into the station before participating in a nine-hour stand-off that ultimately lead to his death.

“The system failed him to brink of breaking him,” Jim explained. “I don’t say in any way that James is right. I tried to tell him that the police were just doing their job.”

In a statement made following Saturday’s attack, Hammond grieved for the loss of her son whilst being thankful he was stopped before he was able to hurt anybody else. Acknowledging her son’s problems, Boulware’s mother made a heartfelt apology to those effected by James’ rampage.

“We apologize to the police for his behavior. We loved him and will remember him as the man he was before all of this took place. We are so grateful that no other families are having to bury anyone because of his actions.”

Dallas Police Chief David Brown discussed the forces’ attempt to reason with Boulware, describing long, drawn out attempts to negotiate with the crazed father that had eventually morphed into furious rantings. Brown maintains that SWAT Team members were given no choice but to use lethal force in order to subdue Boulware.

[Image credit: Andy Jacobsohn]