Suspect in custody after 5 killed in shooting in small Texas town

A suspect was taken into custody after five people were fatally shot in a small town in Texas, officials said Thursday.

State Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson said a mother, her two children and two neighbors were dead after the shooting at a home in McGregor, southwest of Waco.

The suspect was the mother’s partner, Anderson said, describing the bloodshed as a domestic violence incident.

The neighbors were killed when they came to the home after hearing gunfire, he said.

The incident ended with an officer firing, state Department of Public Safety Sgt. Ryan Howard told reporters.

Authorities have not publicly identified the victims or suspect, who was taken into custody after police responded to a report of gunshots in the residential area at 7:35 a.m., McGregor Mayor Jimmy Hering said.

"This terrible and senseless act of violence has devastated our town," Hering said, asking for thoughts and prayers for families, officers and the community.

Local police officials asked the Texas Rangers to handle the criminal inquiry and to investigate the police shooting, he said.

The nearby Troy Independent School District announced that its middle school, freshmen and junior varsity football games against McGregor had been "canceled tonight due to the tragic shooting in the McGregor community."

McGregor, with approximately 5,500 residents, is about halfway between Austin and Dallas and home to a 4,300-acre Space X facility where the Elon Musk-owned company tests rocket engines, according to the Waco Herald-Tribune.