By Christina Maxouris, CNN |
CNN — A man in custody in central Texas is suspected of fatally shooting his parents near San Antonio this week before traveling to the Austin area and killing four people and injuring three others in an eight-hour span Tuesday, authorities said.
The suspect, Shane James, 34, was arrested in Austin on Tuesday night, and is charged with capital murder in one county with more charges expected in another, authorities said. James had mental health issues for years, one sheriff said Wednesday, and had previously been arrested on suspicion of assaulting his family members.
As authorities in Travis and Bexar counties work to piece together how the brutal violence unfolded and whether the suspect had any connection to the victims outside his parents, the affected communities are now forced to confront the all-too-familiar grief of gun violence in the US and live with the lifelong trauma it leaves behind.
Here’s what we know about the killings in Texas.
Parents found dead in ‘grisly’ scene
James is believed to have shot and killed his parents at the family’s San Antonio-area home sometime between 10 p.m. Monday, when a sibling reported last talking to them, and 9 a.m. Tuesday, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
The parents were Phyllis James, 55, and Shane James Sr., 56, the sheriff said.
Several gunshots were fired from a “large caliber handgun,” the sheriff told reporters on Wednesday. He urged anyone in the area who may have heard or seen anything in those hours to contact authorities.
Investigators believe the suspect then traveled about 80 miles to the Austin area in Travis County, where the rest of the violence unfolded throughout Tuesday before James was arrested, authorities said.
Bexar County authorities didn’t know about the deaths of the suspect’s parents until Tuesday night, when Austin police – having arrested James in the Texas capital – contacted Bexar County because they’d connected him to his family’s San Antonio-area home, Salazar said.
Comments are closed.