SAN ANTONIO – A man in his 30s was arrested late Tuesday in Austin after a string of attacks that left six people dead — including two in Bexar County — and at least three people injured.
Police in Austin said the victims were found dead in pairs in different homes during the daylong attacks. The suspect’s name has not been released, but police said they believe he is responsible for all of the deaths.
The relationships between the suspect and victims have not been released, nor the motive.
As of Wednesday morning, this is what we know so far.
Couple believed to have been killed in Bexar County before Austin attacks
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, his agency learned about the suspect’s connection with a home on Port Royal in the Mission Hill community near Kirby.
Deputies responded to the home and found water leaking from the house, Salazar said.
Deputies then forced entry into the home and found the bodies of a man and a woman, believed to be in their 50s, in a small bedroom. He didn’t immediately know how they were killed but said the manner was violent.
Neighbors did not report a shooting at the house. Salazar said he also didn’t know what caused the water leak.
“Again he’s (the suspect) got links to this house but I’m not quite certain what his relationship, if any, to the people here in this house is,” Salazar said.
Salazar added they believe the man and woman, who have not been publicly identified, were killed before the incidents in Austin, which started before 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
Salazar said the victims were well-known in the community.
“I’m not quite sure what’s at the root of it, but … nobody deserves to die the way we believed that they died,” Salazar said.
Suspect ambushed Austin ISD police officer
An Austin ISD police officer was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries after an altercation in the parking lot of Northeast Early College High School at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, APD Interim Chief of Police Robin Henderson said in a news release late Tuesday.
Just after 11 a.m., Austin ISD posted on Twitter that the school was “in lockdown due to shots heard in the area. Police are responding. Please do not come to campus.”
Around 11:45 a.m., the school district posted an update that the campus was “safe” but still in lockdown.
They wrote that an Austin ISD police officer “sustained injuries during an altercation in the parking lot.”
The Austin American Statesman reported that the officer told investigators that he was ambushed by an assailant, according to scanner traffic.
No students or staff were reported to be injured.
The school is located in northeast Austin, off Highway 290 — just east of Interstate 35 and south of Highway 183.
First couple found dead in Austin home
Austin police said at about noon, a man and a woman were found dead in a home in the 7300 block of Shadywood Drive, Henderson said.
“Austin 911 communications received multiple calls for help,” Henderson said.
Henderson did not say how they died. Their names and ages were not released.
Then, just before 5 p.m., Austin police received a call about a male bicyclist shot in the 5700 block of West Slaughter Lane, less than seven miles away from the home on Shadywood Lane.
The cyclist sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Second pair killed in Austin, cyclist shot
Just before 7 p.m., Austin police responded to a call of a burglary in progress at a home in the 5300 block of Austral Loop, less than two miles away from the shooting on Slaughter Lane.
There, they found two people dead. Henderson did not say how they died. Their genders, names and ages were not released.
Henderson said they didn’t believe the attacks were connected until the last incident occurred and after the suspect was taken into custody.
Suspect shot officer during pursuit, later crashed
As an Austin police officer responded to the last call at the home on Austral Loop, the officer saw a male suspect in the backyard.
The man “immediately opened fire” at the officer, striking the officer multiple times, Henderson said. The officer returned fire before the suspect drove off.
The officer was taken to the hospital and was listed in stable condition.
The suspect, who was not hit, was pursued by police.
He ended up crashing at around 7:15 p.m. at the intersection of South Highway 45 and FM 1826. He was taken into custody.
Henderson said he had a gun on him.
Suspect charged with capital murder
The suspect was taken to the Travis County Jail and charged with capital murder. He was also wanted on a warrant for assault with injury-family violence, Henderson said.
Additional charges are pending.
“We strongly believe one suspect is responsible for all of the incidents,” Henderson said late Tuesday. “The suspect is in custody and no longer poses a threat to our Austin community.”
His relationship with the victims, if any, is unknown at this time.
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