Suspect in Austin, Bexar County shooting rampage faces more capital murder charges
Shane James Jr., the former U.S. Army officer arrested in connection with a shooting rampage last week that left a total of six people dead and three injured from Bexar County to Austin, now faces additional murder and aggravated assault charges.
James faces four counts of capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant, a first-degree felony, in connection with his alleged shooting and injuring two police officers in Austin.
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Initially after James was arrested, police charged him with two counts of capital murder, in addition to three outstanding misdemeanor family violence charges he got nearly two years ago in Bexar County. Police believe James killed his parents, Phyllis James, 55, and Shane James Sr., 56, sometime before driving to Austin on Dec. 5.
Once in Austin, police say, James shot and injured Sgt. Val Barnes, a 29-year veteran of the Austin school district police force. Police say James then drove to a neighborhood in South Austin, where he shot and killed Sabrina Rahman, 24, and Emmanuel Pop Ba, 32, in the 7300 block of Shadywood Drive. Family members said Rahman was pushing her 12-month-old son in a stroller when she was killed.
Police believe that in the evening of Dec. 5, James shot and injured a cyclist on Slaughter Lane before entering a home in the Circle C neighborhood, where he killed Kathy Short, 56, and her daughter, Lauren Short, 30. The father called 911 when he saw on a security camera that someone appeared to be breaking into his home.
When police arrived, an officer witnessed James escaping out of the back of the house, and when confronted, James shot the officer multiple times, police said.
James has not received a bond amount for any of the charges at this time, jail records show, except for the misdemeanor charges, which are set at $3,500 each.
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Travis County Jail records also indicate that James faces another first-degree felony charge, although it was unclear Monday what the charge was for, as online records say a charge description is “unavailable." The Travis County sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for more information about this charge.
A probable cause arrest affidavit showed that James also tried to escape from the Travis County Jail on Dec. 6.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Suspect in Austin shooting rampage faces more capital murder charges
