Man accused of Texas shooting spree had previous arrest in Fort Worth

Authorities said the man accused of a shooting rampage that left six people dead across Texas showed signs of mental health struggles in recent years.

Shane Matthew James Jr., 34, is in jail in the Austin area.

Police said he killed his parents in San Antonio, before carrying out multiple shootings in Austin on Tuesday.

Authorities aren’t sure if there was any pattern to how he picked his victims. 

The Bexar County sheriff gave a detailed timeline of their past dealings with James, and he also explained why his deputies did not take James into custody in August, despite there being a warrant out for his arrest.

"I wish there was more the system could do to for suspects like this man," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

Police across Texas first became aware of what was happening in the late morning hours on Tuesday.

That’s when an Austin ISD officer was shot in the leg.

Around noon, police responded to reports of gunshots and found two people who had been shot at a home. One was dead and the other died at a hospital.

Sources told our sister station in Austin that a handyman and woman were killed, and then James took a vehicle.

Karen Koski lives next door.

"It could have been my husband going to work. It could have been my roommate going to work. It could have been me going to work. You know, it was just only an hour after I left," Koski said.

Police said, at about 5 p.m., James shot a cyclist, who is expected to survive.

Then, shortly before 7 p.m., officers responded to a burglary at a home where they said James opened fire on a responding officer, striking them multiple times.

The officer’s injuries were not life threatening.

James drove off, and once police made it inside, they found two people dead.

Neighbors said they were a mother and daughter.

"What was really sad is for the kids, and I'm sorry, in this neighborhood, you know, to think that they're in this protected environment and they're huddling in the bathtub with their parents," said Robin Arnold, who lives nearby.

Police caught James when he crashed his car during a police pursuit a short time later.

That’s when Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputies went to check out his parents’ home in San Antonio.

"We had deputies go to his residence, they knocked on the door. They saw water coming out from under the door, which obviously struck them as strange," Sheriff Salazar said.

Inside, deputies found James’ parents had been shot dead.

Deputies said James is former military, and a domestic violence incident led to his discharge.          

James has also had past run-ins with law enforcement.

Public records show that in 2017, while apparently living in Mansfield, he was arrested for misdemeanor trespass in Fort Worth.

Bexar County deputies arrested James for misdemeanor assault in January 2022, accusing him of pushing or scratching his parents and a sibling.

But deputies said his family did not want him in jail for the sake of his mental health.

The sheriff’s office said he was released March 7, posting a $300 bond, and he then cut off his ankle monitor the next day.

In August 2023, the family called deputies back to the home for a mental health call.

"He was naked, he was just acting out, had a mental health episode and was upstairs in his bedroom," Sheriff Salazar said.       

But deputies said they could not force their way into the home since the charges he faced were misdemeanors, and they downplayed the idea it would prevented the events of this week.

"Chances are he would have already served his time and been out anyway, even had we put him in custody," Salazar added.

The Texas Organizing Project, a social justice organization, said it bailed James out last year.

The organization said James passed its rigorous screening criteria and that it can’t' anticipate a person's future actions, but it will conduct an internal review of its program.