According to authorities, a shooting spree in two major cities in central Texas that left his parents and four other people dead as well as three injured, including two police officers, began on Wednesday morning and involved a 34-year-old former Army infantry officer.
Investigators with Austin police “strongly believe” that the suspect, Shane James, is related to the violent sequence of events that took place in Austin over eight hours on Tuesday. Authorities stated that James was being held without bail on a capital murder charge on Wednesday and that additional charges were still pending.
The series of incidents transpired on Tuesday at four separate locations in the state capital and one close to San Antonio, according to Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson. She claimed that the shooting of an Austin Independent School District police officer close to Northeast Early College High School on Tuesday morning marked the start of the deadly crime spree in Austin and resulted in the lockdown of the institution.
Henderson stated at a press conference on Tuesday night, “We strongly believe one suspect is responsible for all of the incidents based on the information obtained for these investigations.”
Investigators are trying to find out whether James knew any of the victims of the Austin shootings and what set off the violence.
James’ parents, 56-year-old Shane James Sr. & 55-year-old Phyllis James, were the two victims discovered dead at a house close to San Antonio on Tuesday night, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Henderson stated that the investigators were unaware of the connection between the series of episodes until the last one, which happened on Tuesday night at approximately 7 p.m., when the suspect and an Austin police officer engaged in gunfire in the backyard of a house where two bodies were later discovered.
Henderson stated that a 911 caller reported a burglary in progress at the southwest Austin home, prompting the injured officer—a 12-year veteran of the Austin Police Department—to respond to the scene.
The suspect opened fire as soon as the officer entered the Austral Loop home’s backyard, striking him several times, according to Henderson. She said the attacker ran to a car and left the scene when the officer, who was shot but did not pose a threat to life, returned fire.
The suspect was being pursued by additional police when he crashed at an intersection and was apprehended, according to Henderson.
The identities of the two individuals who lost their lives in the Austral Loop shooting remain undisclosed.
James was apprehended, and after that, Austin police got in touch with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, telling them the suspect was connected to a house about 80 miles southwest of Austin, close to San Antonio.
When deputies were called to the residence to check on the well-being of the residents, Salazar claimed they discovered a “grisly” scene along with the bodies of the suspect’s parents, who had been shot several times with a large-caliber weapon as well as “wedged inside a tiny room.”
According to Salazar, the parents were slain between Monday night and Tuesday morning, at 9 a.m., before the suspect fled to Austin to carry out his purported killing spree. He stated that James’ parents were last contacted on Monday at approximately 10 p.m.
According to Salazar, James was implicated in multiple prior incidents in which deputies were called to the family’s home to assist. He claimed that James, who he said had served in the military in the past, had long-term mental health problems.
James was an infantry officer in the Army from February 2013 to August 2015, according to Army spokesman Bryce Dubee, who verified this to ABC News. Dubee stated that James’s records indicated he had no deployments and that he left the service on August 17, 2015, at the rank of first lieutenant.
According to Salazar, James was taken into custody on January 6, 2022, on three misdemeanor counts related to an alleged attack on his parents and a sibling.
“The family stated that James shouldn’t be in jail, that he has psychological issues,” said Salazar.
According to him, on March 7, 2022, James was freed from jail after a judge loosened the prohibitions prohibiting him from communicating with his parents or siblings, changing them from prohibiting him from having any contact at all to just $100 on each misdemeanor count.
Salazar stated that James had to wear an ankle monitoring device as a condition of his release. He claimed that James disconnected his ankle monitoring device the day after he was let out of jail, which led to the issuance of misdemeanor arrest warrants for James.
According to Salazar, the last time his deputies spoke with James was when they were summoned back to the family’s residence in August. According to him, James’ father requested that deputies step in, saying that his “son was upstairs in his bedroom, he was acting out, was naked, and had a mental health episode.”
He claimed that although deputies made an effort to persuade James to come out of his room, their actions were constrained by the fact that James was only wanted for misdemeanor warrants at the time.
Salazar described his deputies as “making every effort to avoid a violent confrontation,” noting that James was at the time unarmed and shouting disparaging remarks at them.
According to Salazar, while the deputies watched, James’ father partially forced open the door to his son’s bedroom, which was blocked by a bed. James was found lying naked on the bed.
According to Salazar, the deputies could not convince James to leave the room, so they left the house and requested the father to call them when he did. He claimed the father didn’t return calls.
“I wish we could have been able to take him into custody,” said Salazar.
James is anticipated to face charges in Bexar County related to capital murder or murder, according to Salazar.
The school resource officer was shot in the leg at approximately 10:43 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Austin Independent School District Police Chief Wayne Sneed, sparking the start of the string of shootings in Austin.
According to Austin police Sgt. Destiny Silva, a man, and a woman were discovered shot inside a house close to Shadywood Drive on the south side of Austin approximately two hours later. According to her, several 911 callers reported hearing gunshots coming from the house, prompting police to respond. The victims discovered at the residence were identified by Austin police as 24-year-old Sabrina Rahman and 32-year-old Emmanuel Pop Ba, who passed away after being taken to a hospital and declared dead at the scene.
According to Silva, one of the victims was declared dead at the scene, and the other passed away in a hospital.
A 39-year-old cyclist reported being shot and hurt near the 5700 block of West Slaughter Lane in Austin when he called 911 at approximately 5 p.m. on Tuesday, according to police.
The Austral Loop gunfight that broke out between the suspect and the veteran police officer about two hours later preceded the suspect’s apprehension.
According to Henderson, the Austin Police Department policy will see the video of the gunfight between the veteran officer and the suspect released to the public within ten business days.
Three staff and faculty members of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas were slain in an unrelated shooting that occurred while police were looking into the Texas rampage. Anthony Polito, 67, was the suspect’s name, according to law enforcement sources who spoke with ABC News. He was shot and killed by police. According to sources, Polito applied for a professorship at UNLV but was not accepted.
The First Lady, Jill Biden, and President Joe Biden stated in response to the shootings in Texas and Nevada, stating that they “join citizens across our nation in pleading for the families of our fallen, as well as for those who were injured throughout these latest acts of senseless violence.”
“Federal security officials are on the ground working alongside state and local law enforcement in both states while I have directed that any assistance needed be provided to aid in the investigations and to assist these communities,” Biden stated. “There have been more than 600 mass shootings in our country this year alone, and gun violence has claimed about 40,000 lives. We cannot allow this to become the norm because it is not normal. Despite all of the steps we have taken since I became president, the epidemic of gun violence requires us to take even more action.”