Six people were found dead and three injured after a string of homicides and shootings unfolded across two Texas communities on Tuesday before a suspect was taken into custody and charged with capital murder, police said.
Four people were killed and two police officers shot in Austin on Tuesday, authorities said. The suspect, who has not been named, was also linked to the deaths of two people in San Antonio, they added.
Interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson told reporters early Wednesday that the man was arrested after he crashed his vehicle while speeding away from a shootout with a police officer that left them with “multiple gunshot wounds.”
She said that the “series of violent incidents” began in the morning “and extended into the evening.”
She added that her department “and other law enforcement had not determined these incidents were connected to the last incident that occurred tonight when the male suspect was taken into custody.”
Shootings across Texas
The first call came in at around 10:43 a.m. local time when police were told that a sergeant with the Austin Independent School District police force had been shot, Henderson said.
Wayne Sneed, the school district’s police chief, told NBC affiliate KXAN that the officer had been shot in the leg but was expected to be released from the hospital.
Shortly after that incident, Henderson said, police received multiple calls about a double homicide in Austin “involving a male and female victim.”
Later, she said, a male cyclist was shot, although he suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
At around 6:54 p.m., Henderson said, the “male suspect immediately opened fire,” on an officer responding to a burglary call after he was found in the backyard of the residence.
The officer returned fire but suffered “multiple gunshot wounds” and “moved to a position to cover,” she said, adding that they were transported to a local hospital where they were in a “stable condition” with non “life-threatening injuries.”
The suspect sped away from the scene and was arrested after crashing his vehicle, she said.
“Later, officers went inside the residence to check the welfare of those inside,” she added. “Two apparent victims of the suspect were located inside with fatal injuries and pronounced deceased on scene.”
At a separate news conference, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the deaths of two more people were being investigated in connection with the shootings in Austin.
Investigators there had linked the suspect with a residence in San Antonio, he said.
Officers saw water coming into the building and decided to force entry, he said.
There, he said, they found “two apparent victims,” both “believed to be in their 50s.”
Salazar added that the suspect had “links to this house,” but he wasn’t certain what his relationship was with the people inside.
“Right now our CSI unit is inside documenting the crime scene and then we will do a more thorough search but at this point,” he said.
He added that he believed “the bodies were relocated” to the property where they were “wedged inside a very small room and they’re up against the door.”
It was not immediately clear Wednesday morning how those two victims died.
