Texas shooting spree: Austin police break down timeline of events

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department gave an update on the deadly shooting spree that took place in Austin and Bexar County on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Austin Police Department Interim Chief Robin Henderson, the APD Homicide Unit, the APD Aggravated Assault Unit, and AISD PD Chief Wayne Sneed all participated in a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 12.

Police say they were getting different suspect and vehicle descriptions throughout the day, and they didn't have enough information that was corroborated to put out an alert. 

"Our processes take time. It was not until the early evening that we were able to gather enough information that was of substantive value to share with the public for a safety alert. However, in the process of putting together the information for that alert, the final officer involved shooting occurred and all of our resources were diverted," Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said. "There was no indication at that time that those incidents were related. The descriptions we were working on throughout the day were different. Each vehicle used was different. So, while it might have seemed that it was obvious, there was no indication based on the information and intelligence that we had at the time the incidents were unfolding that they were related."

The shooting spree started at Northeast Early College High School, when AISD Police Sergeant Val Barnes saw James in the parking lot, which appeared to startle James, and he started firing at Barnes. Barnes was able to get himself to an EMS station.

"I don't know that there was a lot of information that was being exchanged at that point in time. They were more concerned about saving his life," AISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed said about communication to other school officers. 

"Based on the different suspect vehicle descriptions and suspect descriptions, there wasn't any corroborate information at the time," Det. Brandon Solis with the APD aggravated assault unit said. 

The vehicle description was later narrowed down to a Nissan Versa.

James then went to Shadywood Drive where police say he shot and killed two others and stole a Toyota Sequoia.

When officers were there, many neighbors weren't home, and the video they could get was poor quality. 

"Detectives received various descriptions of the suspect, making it difficult to determine whether a person observed on video was a witness or a suspect. After several hours, detectives were able to make contact with more residents returning home for the evening and were able to find better video footage," Det. Nathan Sexton with the APD Homicide Unit said. 

In the evening, a cyclist was shot and injured on Slaughter Lane. He told police someone ran out of the woods chasing and shooting him.

On Austral Loop, James is accused of shooting another two people and injuring an officer. He stole a blue Acura and police chased him. 

"The suspect lost control while turning and crossed over FM 1826 into oncoming traffic and crashed into a passing motorist as officers were exiting their vehicle. The suspect immediately exited the stolen Acura and raised his hands in the air," lead investigator Det. Richard Spitler said. 

The person involved in the crash is okay. When it came to the lack of alerting the community, police say they didn't know all the events were connected until the end. 

"When you provide information that isn't corroborated, it's going to backlog us. We're going to spend more time trying to figure out what isn't legitimate as opposed to putting out information that is correct and corroborative that can actually help the investigation and not deter us," Solis said.

"There had been an attempt to put together surveillance video and still images when we did get it, to put that out to the public, as that was being put together, we were notified of the police chase and it crashing out, and we were actually able to pull this up and live stream it from body cameras, from the officers and identify that he was wearing the exact same clothing with the exact same description as the footage that we had just received," Sexton said. 

When they figured out who James was, APD asked Bexar County to do a welfare check at his parents' home. That's where the bodies of his parents were found.

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The affidavit says when James was taken to APD headquarters, he asked about the welfare check on his parents and smirked. 

Police say the gun James used was bought from a private seller in 2022. Ballistic evidence connects it to all the crime scenes.

That day, there were over 50 violent crime calls for service, and those are usually unrelated. 

James was discharged for unacceptable conduct in the Army in 2015. 

APD says the only other encounter they've had with him was in 2018 for emergency custody because of suicide ideation. 

Shane James, 34, was accused of killing six people and injuring three others in a shooting spree. 

Jail records show he is facing 10 charges in Travis County.

• Two counts of capital murder by terror threat
• Two counts of capital murder of multiple persons
• One count of aggravated assault mass shooting
• Two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant
• Three out-of-county misdemeanors