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On the morning of December 6, 2023, 34-year-old Shane James Jr was identified as the suspect in a daylong shooting spree across two large cities, Austin and San Antonio. The shooting left six people dead, including his parents, and three others injured, including two police officers.
Fox News reported that Bryce Dubee of the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs for the Army's Pentagon office told the outlet that from February 2013 until August 2015, Shane James Jr served as an Army infantry officer, had no deployments, and left the military on August 17, 2015.
He departed the service with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.
ABC News reported that earlier, on January 6, 2022, Shane was apprehended on three misdemeanor counts for allegedly assaulting his parents and a sibling.
Shane James Jr has reportedly struggled with mental health issues for years
ABC News reported that following his arrest in January 2022, on March 7, 2022, Shane James Jr was released from custody. This came after a reduction in bond from $500 to $100 and relaxed restrictions from having no contact with his parents or siblings to having no threatening or harmful contact with them.
According to the report by ABC News, a clause of his release mandated Shane to wear an ankle monitoring device, which he cut off a day after his release. This violation led to the issuing of misdemeanor warrants for his arrest.
CBS Austin reported that at the time, the removal of an ankle monitor was only considered a parole violation, unlike now, where it is counted as a felony.
As per the outlet, former probation officer and co-founder of the nonprofit Save Austin Now, Cleo Petricek, said:
"If you're going to be monitored and you're cutting that, then there needs to be a real consequence for that and the probationer needs to feel that consequence."
ABC News reported that Shane James Jr has struggled with mental health issues for years. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said:
"The family stated that James does not belong in jail, that he has mental health issues."
According to the report by ABC News, in August 2023, authorities responded to Shane's family residence when his father reported that he was having a mental health episode and had barricaded himself in his room.
The report by ABC News stated that authorities were limited by law in that situation, as there were only misdemeanor warrants, and asked Shane James Jr's father to contact them when he came out of his room. However, they never received any calls.
Shane James Jr's shooting spree
ABC News reported that the shooting spree began on December 5, 2023, over the course of eight hours at four different locations in Austin and San Antonio.
Fox News reported that the first shooting took place at about 10:45 am in the 7200 block of Bachman Drive, Austin, where an Austin Independent School district police officer was shot and injured.
This was followed by the second one over an hour later, when authorities received 911 calls reporting a male and female victim killed in a double homicide at 7300 Shady Wood Drive.
According to the report by Fox News, the third shooting occurred right before 5 pm, when authorities responded to 5701 West Slaughter Lan and located a male cyclist who was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
ABC News reported that the fourth shooting took place at about 7 pm. This was after a 911 caller reported a burglary in progress and a 12-year veteran of the Austin Police Department, who responded to the scene, was shot in the backyard of the residence, where two individuals were later discovered dead.
According to the report by ABC News, the officer entered the residence's backyard and confronted Shane James Jr, who instantly opened fire, striking the officer many times.
The officer, who received non-life-threatening injuries, returned fire but missed the perpetrator, who escaped the scene in a vehicle. Other officers pursued the suspect, who crashed at an intersection and was then apprehended.
Fox News reported that following his arrest, authorities learned that Shane James Jr had a probable connection to a residence near San Antonio and informed the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.
ABC News reported officials from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check and found the bodies of Shane's parents shot multiple times with a large-caliber weapon and crammed up in a small room.
Authorities believe that the killings took place somewhere between 10 pm on December 4, 2023, and 9 am on December 5, 2023, prior to Shane's alleged shooting spree.
According to the report by ABC News, investigators did not link the string of events until the final shooting. They are looking into any connections Shane James Jr may have had with the other victims as well as what triggered the violence.
Fox News reported that Shane was taken into custody at the Travis County jail on multiple counts of capital murder and several misdemeanors.
Law&Crime reported that Shane James Jr remains in jail without bond as authorities continue further investigation of the case.
