PICTURED: Shane James is seen in bloody mugshot after he was charged with capital murder – following day-long rampage across two Texas cities that left six people dead
The suspect charged with capital murder after a daylong rampage in two Texas cities that left six people dead was seen in a bloody police photo.
Shane James, 34, was booked into the Travis County Jail early Wednesday morning on four counts of capital murder and three other unspecified out-of-jurisdictional crimes.
James is also suspected of shooting two police officers, including one who was shot in the leg near an Austin high school.
He was seen in a new booking photo Wednesday afternoon with a red scratch on his left cheek and blood spattered on his forehead and hairline.
This photo provided by the Austin, Texas Police Department shows Shane James. On Wednesday, December 6, 2023, Texas authorities charged James with capital murder following a daylong wave of violence in two major cities that left six people dead.
News 4 San Antonio reported that James was held on bail by the Texas Organizing Project early last year on three assault charges. The project is a police reform group that has helped the Bexar Co. prosecutor. and the sheriff to be elected.
The first reported incident occurred shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday at a high school in the Texas capital, where James allegedly shot and killed an Austin Independent School District police officer.
Soon after, authorities believe he shot and killed a man and a woman at a home on the city’s south side. At 5 p.m., a cyclist was also shot dead in the southern part of the city.
That shooting was also linked to James. The victim received injuries incompatible with life. Two hours later, a second Austin police officer was shot by a suspect when someone called 911 to report a home robbery on the city’s southwest side.
This sparked a high-speed chase that resulted in James’ arrest. When officers returned to that home, they found two more people dead inside.
By Tuesday evening, officials announced that the same suspect was involved in the “gruesome” murder of a couple in their 50s whose bodies were found in a small bedroom in San Antonio, about 80 miles from Austin.
A gunman caught the attention of officers when he shot a school resource officer in the leg near the Northeast Early College High School football field shortly before noon. This led to a school closure that lasted four hours.
Less than an hour later, the gunman went to a home in South Austin and shot and killed the handyman while he was sitting in his car. The suspect fired through the window.
After the shooting started, a woman came outside and was then chased down the street by the gunman. He caught her and killed her Fox Austin report.
A man has been arrested in connection with a series of shootings that killed at least four people, wounded two police officers and may have spread to several cities.
The suspect returned to the repairman’s car, threw the body on the sidewalk and stole the car.
The next incident occurred around 5:00 pm when a cyclist was injured. He was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Police caught the gunman after receiving a report of a robbery in the Austral Loop in southwest Austin shortly before 7 p.m.
Before fleeing, the gunman shot and wounded a second Austin police officer. The officer’s injuries are not life-threatening.
The 12-year veteran of the force fired at the suspect, but missed him. According to the protocol, she was placed on administrative leave.
The suspect fled the scene and gave chase at high speed.
The chase ended about 15 minutes later when the suspect crashed his car at the intersection of Highway 45 and FM 1826.
He was armed when police arrested him. Investigators determined that the suspect had a warrant for causing bodily harm to a family member.
When police returned to the home where the robbery was reported, they found the bodies of two more people.
“Questions remain as to why AISD police and Austin police did not issue a community-wide alert with a suspect description to keep residents on alert,” Rudy Koski wrote at Fox Austin on X.
In San Antonio, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the couple found dead were “well known” in the community and said their home was “in very good condition.”
A suspect was named and arrested Wednesday morning.
The massacre began shortly before 11 a.m. at Northeast Early College High School, where a suspect allegedly shot and killed an Austin Independent School District officer.
Within minutes he was in South Austin, where he is accused of killing two people on Shadywood Drive.
Neighbors claimed that the people who lived there had only moved out a few days ago, saying the owner of the house had brought cookies and apologized for any disruption caused by their construction.
Salazar, who called the killings “horrific,” said officials believe the couple was killed before the Austin shooting.
He did not give a cause of death but said it was the result of a violent collision. The couple’s bodies were positioned so that they were pressed against the door.
“No one deserves to die like this,” the sheriff said.
Law enforcement officers were called to the scene after receiving a report of a water leak; investigators believe the culprit broke a pipe.
After the shooting in Austin, officials with the city’s police department told their counterparts in San Antonio that the suspect was linked to the San Antonio home where a couple in their 50s was killed.
Neighbors said the people living in Austin’s home had only moved out a few days ago, adding that he had recently brought cookies and apologized for any disruption caused by construction.
A vigil was held at the home Tuesday evening.
Later that day, around 7:00 p.m. local time, police received a report of a robbery in Austral Loop in the southwestern part of the city.
The chase eventually ended in a crash near an intersection.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement regarding the shooting.
“Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the Austin ISD police officer who was shot and killed today near Northeast College High School,” Abbott said.
“Our ISD police officers play a critical role in keeping Texas students and educators safe.
“The State of Texas is offering every available resource to local law enforcement partners who are working to ensure this dangerous criminal is caught and brought to justice.”
Austin’s death marks the city’s 67th and 68th homicides of 2023, according to police.