Shane James, 34, charged with capital murder following day-long crime spree
Texas father watched from live feed as shooting suspect allegedly broke into home where family was killed
Police identified victims, affidavit details string of violence. (Credit: KTBC/FOX 7 Austin)
A Texas father reportedly watched a shooting rampage suspect break into his home via live feed and called 911 for help, according to a probable cause affidavit.
"A man watching a live feed of his home surveillance system called 911 to say someone had broken into his residence on Austral Loop in the city’s southwest," the affidavit obtained by WOAI-TV in San Antonio states. "Detectives arrived at the scene and confronted James, who then fired multiple times, hitting a detective before stealing a car from the home and speeding off."
A woman and her daughter with special needs were found dead inside the home. They were two of six people allegedly killed by Shane James Jr., 34, during a day-long crime spree across two counties on Dec. 5.
A detective who viewed the security footage said James could be seen kicking down the back door of the home where Katherine Short, 56, and Lauren Short, 30, were later found with gunshot wounds while holding a weapon. The weapon was identified in the affidavit as an Inland Manufacturing 1911 A1 .45-caliber pistol, NBC reported.
TEXAS SHOOTING SUSPECT AVOIDED ARREST PRIOR TO RAMPAGE THAT KILLED 6
Shane James, 34, is charged in connection with a shooting spree in Texas. (Austin Police Department)
The women were identified by the man who called 911 as his wife and daughter, according to court records.
James is now charged with two counts of capital murder after authorities said he left a trail of violence from his parents' home in the San Antonio area to Austin on Tuesday. Authorities said James killed his parents, Phyllis and Shane James Sr., before driving about 80 miles to Austin, killing four more people, and wounding three others, including two Austin police officers.
Emmanuel Pop Ba, 32, and Sabrina Rahman, 24, were two of the people killed in the rampage, Austin police said.
The fourth incident happened in the 5300 block of Austral Loop. The suspect shot a responding police officer and two victims were found dead inside a home. (FOX7 Austin KTBC)
In January 2022, James was charged with aggravated assault against his mother, father and sister, Fox San Antonio reported. Bail records said James was bonded out by the Texas Organizing Project, a nonprofit focused on progressive issues that helped elect Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales and county Sheriff Javier Salazar.
James served as an Army infantry officer from February 2013 to August 2015, Bryce Dubee of the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs for the Army's Pentagon office told Fox News Digital. He had no deployments and separated from the military on Aug. 17, 2015.
Police received multiple 911 calls around 11:59 a.m. about a male and female victim killed in an apparent double homicide at 7300 Shady Wood Drive. (FOX7 Austin KTBC)
He left the service with the rank of first lieutenant, Dubee said.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
