Authorities in Texas identified 34-year-old Shane James as the man they believe carried out a shooting rampage across Austin on Tuesday and a double murder in San Antonio, leaving at least six people dead and injuring three others, including two police officers.
James was booked into the Travis County Jail on two counts of capital murder and misdemeanor, with no other details provided, said public records reviewed by the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network. Court records do not indicate whether James has an attorney.
Interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson said in a news conference early Wednesday that law enforcement was unaware the incidents were connected until after James was arrested Tuesday night. It remains uncertain whether there is any relationship between James and the victims, whose names have not been released.
“I’d like to express my deepest condolences to all the victims and their families who’ve been affected by these series of tragic events and horrific criminal acts,” Henderson said.
Eight-hour rampage kills 4, injures 3 in Austin
The first shooting in Austin occurred Tuesday morning around 10:40 a.m., when the suspect shot a police officer at Northeast Early College High School, prompting an hourslong lockdown of the school and a nearby facility. The officer was shot in the leg and was in stable condition Tuesday evening, said Austin school district Police Chief Wayne Sneed.
Then, at about noon, officers responded to the double homicide of a man and a woman at a home in South Austin. One person died at the scene and the other died after being rushed to a nearby hospital. Authorities have not released their cause of death.
The third shooting occurred around 5 p.m. when the suspect fired at a male cyclist in southwest Austin, Henderson said. The cyclist suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Two hours later, the suspect shot at officers who were responding to a 911 call about a burglary in progress at a home less than a mile from the previous shooting. One officer suffered multiple injuries, which Henderson described as not life-threatening.
The suspect fled in a vehicle before he subsequently crashed and was nabbed by officers, ending the spree more than eight hours after the first shooting in Austin.
As the police chase was underway, officers at the house where the firefight happened searched the residence. Inside, they found two people dead. Police believe the suspect to be responsible for those deaths, Henderson said. Authorities have not said how the victims died.
An Austin police officer works at the scene of a shooting in the Circle C Ranch neighborhood in Southwest Austin on Tuesday December 5, 2023.
Authorities are investigating the suspect’s connection to a “grisly” double murder in northeastern San Antonio after a man and a woman in their 50s were found dead inside a residence Tuesday night. Police believe they were killed before the suspect carried out the rampage in Austin.
Around 7:45 p.m. the Austin Police Department communicated to officials in Bexar County, which encompasses San Antonio, that the suspect in the Austin shootings “had links” to a local residence.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a media briefing that while the suspect has a connection with the residence, it’s unclear “what his relation, if any” was with the two people who were found dead.
Contributing: Tony Plohetski, Bianca Moreno-Paz, Skye Seipp and Chase Rogers, Austin American-Statesman