Plano gunman extremely drunk at time of mass shooting

PLANO, Texas - The man who killed eight people during a Cowboys watch party in Plano last September had a blood-alcohol level that was four times the legal limit.

The Collin County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report on 32-year-old Spencer Hight showed a blood alcohol content of .33 percent at the time of his death.

By comparison, .08 is the legal limit for drunken driving arrests in Texas. Most people pass out between .25 and .3. Anything over .3 is generally considered life-threatening. People often stop breathing over .4, according to the AwareAwakeAlive.org.

His wife, who had filed for divorce, was having a Dallas Cowboys watch party. According to search warrant affidavits, Hight showed up with weapons at the Local Public House, a bar just three blocks away from the murder scene at his wife's house.

A bartender called police and told them she “observed the suspect with a pistol and a knife and stated that she was following him on Spring Creek Parkway to the home where the murders happened but drove away before the shooting started,” the affidavit states.

Hight ultimately shot and killed his ex-wife, 27-year-old Meredith Hight, and their friends, some of whom stood in their wedding.

The victims included Anthony Michael Cross, 33, Olivia Nicole Deffner, 24, James Richard Dunlop, 29, Darryl William Hawkins, 22, Rion Christopher Morgan, 31, Myah Sade Bass, 28, and Caleb Seth Edwards, 25. Carly Shockey was the sole survivor of the shooting after she was shot in the jaw.

A Plano police officer, who responded in minutes, went into the home before backup could arrive. He shot and killed the gunman. The medical examiner determined Hight was shot three times and died as a result of those injuries.

“Mr. Hight was shot by law enforcement while he was committing multiple murders with a firearm. The manner of death as homicide is only meant to reflect that he died at the hands of another,” the ME stated.

It is not clear yet how much alcohol, if any, the bar served to Hight. The TABC is still investigating that part of the case.

A Collin County grand jury reviewed the case in February and declined to take action against the officer who killed Hight.