AUSTIN, Texas — In an update on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Austin Police Department laid out a more detailed timeline of last week’s deadly shooting spree and explained why an alert wasn’t sent to the public while the alleged gunman was on the run.
Interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson said four people injured during the rampage – two officers, a cyclist and a driver involved in a crash with the suspect – have all been released from the hospital.
Shane James Jr. is accused of killing his parents in San Antonio before moving on to Austin, where he allegedly killed Emmanuel Pop Ba, Sabrina Rahman, Katherine Short and Lauren Short.
He is facing four capital murder charges, plus two charges for felony aggravated assault against a public servant in connection with allegedly injuring officers with the Austin ISD Police Department and the Austin Police Department. In addition, he faces a felony aggravated assault mass shooting charge.
Police said they did not know the six homicides and the injuries of three others were all tied to one suspect until they had him in custody. APD said we haven't seen this many murders by one person in Austin since 1991.
Police said throughout the day, the department received conflicting suspect descriptions at most of the scenes, so investigators did not believe the multiple shootings were connected until that evening when James was taken into custody. They also pointed to the fact that the department responded to 50 violent crimes that day and said having multiple agencies working the cases slowed down communication.
Once detectives received surveillance video of the suspect from the murders on Shadywood Drive, they didn't believe it was a clear enough video to share with the public, APD said.
When asked why they didn't just alert people in the area of the Austin police officer shooting in South Austin, police said they did not want to impact the investigation.
Henderson said while she is proud of APD's response, the department is already looking at ways to have a better response in the future.
"Please understand, since this incident has occurred, we have already had meetings with [Sheriff] Sally Hernandez, with Travis County Sheriff's Office, on the need of working with collaborating on how if there is something to put out, which is the appropriate entity and at what time," Henderson said.
Police said the suspect legally purchased the gun he used through a private sale back in 2022. They don't know a motive. They also don't know what he was doing for six hours in between the shooting on Shadywood Drive and the one on Slaughter Lane.
Austin police also told the press on Tuesday that officers briefly interacted with James in Austin more than five years ago. They say he had a mental health crisis at the Mosaic Church on Research Boulevard in northwest Austin in March of 2018. No one was hurt and APD took him into emergency custody, but James was not charged.
Court documents say after authorities read the suspect his Miranda rights, he asked the detective if he was able to get in contact with his parents, who police later found out were dead.
The detective told James the Bexar County Sheriff's Office was working on contacting them. The detective then said he observed James "smirk" and told him to follow up with the sheriff's office on the outcome of the check welfare on his parents.