AUSTIN, Texas — A violent Tuesday in Central Texas involving four shootings, including two double homicides, across the Austin area and a double homicide in San Antonio left six people dead and three more injured, including two police officers.
Investigators say the suspect, identified as Shane James, shot an Austin ISD Police Department officer outside Northeast Early College High School on Berkman Drive in northeast Austin. Just before noon, the Austin Police Department got calls to a home off Shadywood Drive. When officers arrived on scene, they found a man and woman, identified as 32-year-old Emmanuel Pop Ba and 24-year-old Sabrina Rahman, with "obvious signs of trauma" to their bodies. Pop Ba was pronounced dead at the scene, while Rahman died later at a hospital.
In most of the affected areas, residents describe their communities as "tight-knit" and said they are astounded that this level of tragedy has hit so close to home.
Roy and Jacquie Scroggins are a married couple who have lived on Shadywood Drive for over 25 years.
"It was a shock in the neighborhood. Here in this subdivision, [it's] usually quiet and peaceful and no problems like that," Roy Scroggins said.
"We have to be careful in what we're doing when we do it, how we do it. We didn't have to do that two years ago," Jacquie Scroggins said.
Police believe after the shooting on Shadywood, James headed further southwest, where he shot a bicyclist on West Slaughter Lane just before 5 p.m.
The next incident is when police made contact with James. At 6:45 p.m., APD officers got a call about a burglary in progress at a home on Austral Loop in southwest Austin's Circle C neighborhood. Officers found two people inside a home where the robbery was taking place.
Robin Arnold is a neighbor who says the victims were "longtime residents," calling them "sweet" and "involved" in the community. The grief is causing her to lose sleep.
"It's indescribable. It really is because it's just a gut punch," Arnold said. "I can't fathom."
As a mom of two, this is what Arnold is managing to take away in a neighborhood now left with loss:
"For all the moms out there, or parents in general, make sure you give your kids a big hug. I guess it's just too surreal to try to understand right now," Arnold said.
Arnold said she is praying for the strength of the family members experiencing loss after tragedy.