Suspect in custody after 6 killed and 3 injured in a series of homicides and shootings in Central Texas

Originally Published: 06 DEC 23 05:33 ET Updated: 06 DEC 23 11:05 ET By Melissa Alonso, CNN

(CNN) — A suspect is in custody after a string of homicides and shootings across two Central Texas communities left six people dead and three people injured, including two police officers, authorities said during news conferences in Austin and the San Antonio area.

The suspect has been charged in Travis County with multiple counts of capital murder and is expected to remain in custody pending a trial, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday in a statement.

Austin Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson did not name the suspect during a news conference, but said he was a man and additional charges are expected.

The suspect allegedly killed two people in the San Antonio area in a Bexar County home, officials there said. The timing wasn’t clear.

Tuesday morning, he then allegedly shot and injured an Austin Independent School District officer before killing a man and womanmiles away, investigators said. He then allegedly shot and injured a man on a bicycle before shooting and injuring an Austin police officer who was responding to a burglary call at a home where two people were later found dead, according to Austin Police.

Timeline of the attacks

• Police believe the first two victims, a man and a woman, were killed in Bexar County. Their bodies were found by police around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.
• Around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday a school resource officer was shot in Austin, police said.
• Around noon, two people were killed at a home miles from the school, police said.
• Around 5 p.m. a man on a bike was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
• Around 7 p.m. an officer was shot while responding to a burglary call, and two people were found dead in the home, police said.
• Around 7:15 p.m., the suspect was arrested by police.

Bexar County is about 80 miles southwest of Austin. The suspect was connected to a home there, but police didn’t say what his relationship to the victims may be.

The relationship, if any, between the suspect and the Austin victims also isn’t known, Henderson said. Investigators initially didn’t know the incidents were connected, she said.

Two high schools in Austin are closed Wednesday as police investigate the shootings in the city, officials said.

How the violence unfolded

As police in Austin investigated the suspect following his arrest, they connected him to an address in Bexar County and contacted authorities there, Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference Tuesday night.

Deputies were sent to check out the home and discovered water leaking from the home so they decided to force their way in, Salazar said.

The deputies discovered a “pretty grizzly crime scene” inside with two people dead, the sheriff said.

“Nobody deserves to die the way we believe that they died,” he said, without providing further details on how they were killed.

The relationship, if any, between the suspect and the people in the home is unclear, Salazar said.

“This is a very quiet family. The gentleman that lives in the home, he’s very involved in the community, in the neighborhood watch,” Salazar said.

Investigators believe the double homicide at the home happened before the incidents in Austin, the sheriff said.

The first shooting in Austin happened around 10:40 a.m., when an Austin Independent School District officer was shot near Northeast Early College High School. The officer was shot in the leg and was stable, Austin Independent School District Police Chief Wayne Sneed said.

The school went on lockdown as another school resource officer assisted the injured officer, Sneed said. It and nearby International High School are closed Wednesday as the investigation continues, district officials said.

A little more than an hour later, Austin Police responded “to multiple calls for help” at a location about 12 miles away from the high school, Austin Police Sgt. Destiny Silva said Tuesday afternoon during a news briefing.

“The callers reported hearing gunshots and stated that there was two possible victims,” Silva said.

“Our officers arrived on scene at approximately 12:04 p.m. and located a male and a female victim with obvious signs of trauma to their body.”

One victim died there and the other was pronounced dead at the hospital, Silva said.

The third incident in Austin occurred around 4:57 p.m., “when Austin 911 received a call at 5701 West Slaughter Lane” about a male cyclist who said he had been shot. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Henderson, the police chief, said.

About two hours later, a police officer responding to a burglary call in southwest Austin was shot in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect. The officer had non-life-threatening injuries and the suspect wasn’t injured, Henderson said.

The suspect fled the burglary scene in a vehicle, Henderson said, and officers pursued him. The suspect crashed the vehicle around 7:14 p.m. and was arrested, the chief said. He had a firearm on him, Henderson said.

During the pursuit, additional officers who responded to the home for the burglary call checked inside the house and found two people dead inside, said Henderson.

After his arrest, the suspect was taken to the Travis County Jail, Henderson said.

Charges related to an outstanding assault and family violence warrant for the suspect are also pending, the chief added.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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