A man who says he is Dallas shooting suspect's James Boulware's father spoke to Dallas CBS affiliate about his son's alleged rampage in front of Dallas police headquarters earlier this morning.

CBS 11 has talked with a man who claims to be the suspect’s father. Jimmy Lee Boulware, 73, says James was just at his Carrollton home yesterday to cut the front lawn. He says James bought the van, which was used in the chase and standoff in Georgia. According to the elder Boulware, James said he was going to sleep in it. Sources confirm to CBS 11 that the van was purchased on Ebay.

Jimmy Lee says he had no idea this was about to happen, but says James felt “beaten down” by police and CPS over a custody battle over his son. Jimmy Lee says James also had a hard time finding and keeping a decent paying job because of his past criminal record. Dallas Police have not given a motive for the suspect’s actions.

In this snippet posted on Twitter by reporter JD Miles, Mr. Boulware blames the justice system, saying his son never did anything to deserve losing custody of his son.

Father of #DallasPDShooting suspect James Boulware on why his son shot at police. First on CBS 11 pic.twitter.com/nmdBsQpu9P

— J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) June 13, 2015

News accounts and court documents beg to differ with that assessment. The suspect did confirm that he is the same James Boulware who was arrested in 2013 for threatening family members:

Officers confiscated several guns from a Paris home, after arresting the owner. "There are four or five long guns and three or four pistols, tubs full of ammunition, and the body armor," says Paris Police Chief Bob Hundley.

James Boulware, 33, allegedly grabbed and choked his mother in Dallas on Tuesday morning, and he has made other threats, police and family members said.

"That he was going to just kill all the adult members of the family and then that's when he made the comment he may shoot up some churches and schools," says Hundley.

"He had been talking about the schools and churches being soft targets, being easy targets because no one in them was armed," a man who identified himself as Boulware's brother "Andrew" said.

That incident caused schools to go into lockdown until the arrest was over.

According to court documents available at the Dallas Courts website, Boulware and his son's mother both had their custody rights terminated, and his son placed with Boulware's mother after a 10-year custody battle. There were numerous temporary restraining orders granted to his son's mother requiring Boulware to remain a safe distance away, and both parents were allowed supervised visits by the court, but neither was allowed custody.

More, via DallasNews.com:

James Boulware’s uncle told police that the son had his hands around his mother’s neck for 2-3 seconds before the uncle saw him, the affidavit states.

As the uncle tried to kick James Boulware out of the apartment, they began fighting on the ground and James Boulware hit the uncle several times in the head with a closed fist before the uncle was able to put him in a chokehold, the affidavit states.

The mother, believing James Boulware was being choked into unconsciousness, hit the uncle in the head with a laptop causing him to bleed. The uncle eventually let go of James Boulware who grabbed his keys and left before police arrived, according to police documents.

A family violence packet was completed for the incident and offense reports were taken for Boulware and his uncle. Unsure of what he might do, James Boulware’s uncle and mother went to stay in a hotel in Detroit, Texas.

The case was later dismissed.

Later that day, his brother told Paris, Texas, police that James Boulware had gone to their home there and taken several guns, rifles, body armor and boxes of ammunition from the home, the arrest warrant affidavit states.

Family members had also said that James Boulware made comments about “shooting up schools and churches,” the affidavit states.

James Boulware’s mother told police that he talked to himself “quite frequently and appears delusional,” the affidavit states, but that he was not taking any medications.

After the allegations in 2013, James Boulware was unable to maintain a job and lost custody of his son to his mother, his father said. The suspect ended up selling off his house, tools and other possessions to make ends meet and often stayed with various friends who would try to help, the elder Boulware said.

But he could never get past the events of 2013, which further complicated his attempts to get his life together.

The apple doesn't fall too awfully far from the tree here. If Dad is making excuses for his behavior, it's not hard to understand why it kept repeating. Mental illness may have been a factor as well.

So at the risk of being trolled hard by NRA acolytes, can anyone explain to me why this man should have been able to buy the materials and explosives to make pipebombs and have multiple guns in his possession?

By the way, today is the day Governor Greg Abbott signed the Campus Carry and Open Carry laws.

I would like for him to tell me how to figure out who the lunatics are and who the so-called "good guys" are, and also how police are supposed to figure that out. He can use this situation as a case study.