An army veteran is accused of the Tuesday killing spree in Austin and San Antonio. Shane James Jr, allegedly, shot dead his parents, four other people and injured three others, including two police officers.
James, 34, was arrested in Austin after engaging with police officers. He was charged with murder for four killings in Austin, while the murder charges for the San Antonio Killings are expected to be filed in the coming days.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said that two bodies found at the house where James lived were tentatively identified as his parents, Phyllis James, and Shane James Sr. Police say the suspect killed them between Monday night and Tuesday evening.
Police officers said that James suffered from mental health issues. In fact, police had been called to the family home in August 2023 for domestic violence. James had been arrested in 2022 for a misdemeanor assault against his parents and sibling, but he was freed.
He served in the Army for two years from February 2013 to August 2015. Salazar said there had been a domestic violence incident that had nothing to do with why he left the army, but did not give details.
On Tuesday evening, police officers responded to a burglary call. When they arrived, they found a man in the backyard, they exchanged fire and one officer suffered non-life-threatening wounds. The man fled but later crashed his vehicle and was taken into custody.
Two homicide victims were found in the home.
Before noon, police were also notified of a double homicide of two people in another house, identified as Emmanuel Pop Ba, 32, and Sabrina Rahman, 24.
An Austin Independent School District police officer was also shot in the leg about an hour earlier, while he was patrolling at Northeast Early College High School. Another man was shot, described as a 39-year-old bicyclist. The man had non-life-threatening injuries.
Police concluded that all crimes were connected. Salazar said that in recent days, James had been drinking and not taking medicine.
To learn more about gun violence in Texas, see the RA News Gun Violence Watch page.
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