Suspect in custody after shooting spree leaves 6 dead, 3 injured in Texas

A suspect is in custody after a shooting spree left six people dead and three others injured, including two police officers, across two Texas counties, Austin Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said early Wednesday. 

Police were unaware that the incidents, which occurred over eight hours, were connected until they arrested him, Henderson said, according to The Austin American-Statesman. 

Officials say it is unclear whether the suspect, who has not been publicly identified, has any relationship with the victims.

Police were first called to a shooting shortly after 10:30 a.m. for a report that an Austin Independent School District police sergeant was shot. They then responded to a double homicide of a man and a woman around noon, and another shortly before 5 p.m. of a male cyclist who had been shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers received a call for a robbery nearly five hours later, and the suspect opened fire at a responding officer, who was injured but returned gunshots. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle and officers checked the home where the gunfire exchange occurred and found two more deceased. Police captured the suspect when he crashed following a car chase with officers. 

Additionally, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said that a "grisly" double homicide in San Antonio is also being investigated in connection to the shootings in Austin. 

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