AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A suspect has been arrested after committing several homicides Tuesday stretching from Austin to San Antonio, a shooting spree that left six people dead and others injured including two police officers.
Austin Police interim chief Robin Henderson said early Wednesday morning that investigators did not connect the multiple shooting scenes until late Tuesday - after a fourth incident in Austin involving an APD officer just before 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 5370 block of Austral Loop on the city's southwest side.
Henderson said investigators believe the suspect, who has only been identified as a male in his 30s, is responsible for four separate shootings across the Austin area, along with a double homicide near San Antonio.
The day began with an Austin ISD Police sergeant being shot in the leg around 10:40 a.m. Tuesday at Northeast Early College High School. According to AISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed, the officer was on his normal daily check of the Northeast campus when he was ambushed in the parking lot.
The campus was placed into lockdown mode and backup resources were called in. Sneed said 15 agencies ended up responding to the campus, but the suspect remained at large following the shooting.
Students at the campus remained safe, and the district performed a "controlled release" later Tuesday afternoon after transporting them to the nearby Delco Center.
Then, around noon, Austin Police responded to a number of 911 calls coming from the 7300 block of Shadywood Drive, near South First Street and William Cannon Drive on the city's far south side. Officers found a man and woman with "obvious signs of trauma" to their bodies; one victim was pronounced deceased on the scene, while the other died at the hospital from their injuries.
Then, around 5 p.m., police received a 911 call reporting a male cyclist that had been shot in the 5700 block of Slaughter Lane. He suffered non life-threatening injuries, Henderson said.
Officers were then called to the scene on Austral Loop around 7 p.m., with a 911 call reporting a burglary in progress. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the suspect in a backyard; the suspect shot multiple times at one of the officers, who returned fire. That officer sustained multiple injuries, which Henderson described as non life-threatening.
The suspect then fled the scene in a vehicle, prompting a police pursuit to the intersection of State Highway 45 and FM 1826 before he crashed. Officers were then able to take the suspect into custody, Henderson said.
Inside the home on Austral Loop where the gunfire exchange happened, officers found two other people dead, Henderson said.
Bexar County officials believe the suspect is also connected to a "grisly" double homicide scene on the county's east side after a man and a woman in their 50s were found dead inside a small room in a home in the 6000 block of Port Royal Street in San Antonio.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said investigators believe the suspect had connections to that residence, and that the two victims were killed before the series of Austin shootings took place.
The suspect is facing a capital murder charge, with other charges pending according to Henderson. He has an outstanding warrant for assault causing injury to a family member, Henderson said.
Neither the suspect nor the victims have been identified. It's not clear if there is any relationship between the suspect and the victims.
Henderson said the APD officer who was wounded during the exchange with the suspect is a 12-year veteran of the department. The incident was captured on body-worn cameras and footage is expected to be released within 10 business days, per department policy.
According to Austin ISD interim superintendent Matias Segura, the AISD Police officer is also recovering from his injuries. Classes and extra curricular activities at Northeast ECHS will be canceled on Wednesday, officials said, although the campus will be open for students and staff as needed.
