A suspect is in custody following an eight-hour streak of violence across two communities in Central Texas that left six people dead and three others injured, including two police officers.
The situation unfolded Tuesday morning after the suspect allegedly shot and injured an Austin Independent School District officer during an altercation in the parking lot of Northeast Early College High School.
About an hour later, police received multiple calls about a double homicide "involving a male and female victim" at a home in Austin, according to Interim Chief of Police Robin Henderson.
The next incident happened about five hours later, when the suspect allegedly shot a man riding a bicycle. The victim sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Roughly two hours later, police responded to a call about a burglary in progress and encountered the suspect in the back yard of a home. The suspect "immediately opened fire at the officer," Henderson said. The officer sustained multiple gunshot wounds and took cover. Henderson said the officer returned fire but did not strike the suspect, who fled the scene.
The officer was taken to the hospital in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries.
Inside the home, police found "two apparent victims of the suspect" with fatal injuries. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect was ultimately arrested about 15 minutes later following a police chase that ended in a crash. He's charged with capital murder and additional charges are pending.
Henderson said investigators did not determine the crimes were linked until after the suspect was in custody.
The deaths of two people in San Antonio are also believed to be connected to the suspect, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. The victims, a man and a woman in their 50's, were found inside a home that is linked to the suspect.
Salazar described it as a "grisly crime scene," but did not reveal how the victims were killed.
"[Deputies] saw water coming out of the residence, appearing as if something was leaking inside," Salazar said. Deputies forced entry and found the bodies "wedged inside a very small room, up against the door."
Investigators believe the murders in San Antonio occurred before the violence unfolded in Austin.
Police didn't say what the suspect's relationship to any of the victims may be.