5 killed in Texas city slayings, suspect arrested
10/29/2013TERRELL, Texas — Five people have been killed in a string of slayings across a small Dallas-area city and a male suspect was arrested early today after a police chase, police said.
The suspect, a 36-year-old resident of Terrell, was captured after stealing and wrecking a car then running into some woods, police Chief Jody Lay said.
Lay did not specify any charges against the suspect or speculate on a motive in the killings in Terrell, a city of about 16,000 people located some 30 miles east of Dallas. Lay did not name the three women and two men who were slain and did not provide details of their relationships to the suspect.
“We’re all in a state of shock,” Lay said. “You have a tendency to think, ‘How can that happen here?’ This is a country community, a rural community, people are real close. This is going to be, it’s going to have a really big impact on us.”
A woman was found fatally shot Monday afternoon at a house in Terrell, police said. The body of another woman was found in a burning home nearby. A man and a woman were found shot to death Monday night at a third residence, according to Lay. A 3-year-old boy was discovered unharmed in that home, Lay said.
The fifth victim, a male clerk, was discovered slain at a convenience store. An off-duty police officer noticed a man running from the store, then driving away.
The suspect was captured around 1:30 a.m. today after he wrecked the stolen vehicle and dashed into some woods. A law enforcement helicopter using infrared cameras helped uncover the man.