Austin police release bodycam video of scene where mother, daughter killed before Shane James caught

Austin police have released officer body camera video from a shooting on Dec. 5 involving a 34-year-old San Antonio man arrested in connection with a string of attacks that left six people dead and at least three others injured in Austin and Bexar County.

Police in Austin said the victims were found dead in pairs in different homes during the daylong attacks involving the suspect, Shane James Jr.

The footage released by the Austin Police Department is related to the shooting in the 5300 block of Austral Loop in which two women — a mother and daughter — were killed in their home.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a person called the police and said his surveillance system showed someone breaking into his house, occupied by his wife and daughter.

Police made entry and found two women with gunshot wounds. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The bodycam video shows Detective Joseph Strother, a 12-year APD veteran, approaching the home cautiously with his gun raised.

As Strother made his way to the back of the home, he opened a wooden gate to inspect the back of the property.

Moments after the officer opened the gate, several shots rang out, and Strother ran away from the home.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” he yelled to other officers as he approached the front of the home.

Afterward, Strother instructed the officers that the suspect was at the back of the property and took cover behind a vehicle in front of the home before the bodycam video concluded.

Austin PD said Strother was shot several times during the exchange.

From a different angle, Officer Khristof Oborski’s bodycam shows the moments before and after the shooting from the perspective of the front of the home.

The video shows Oborski in his vehicle and then exiting before walking toward the home for about 40 seconds.

As he approached the front of the home, Oborski heard several gunshots ringing out.

“Shots fired! Shots fired!” he radios in.

Moments later, Oborski sees Strother running toward the front of the home.

Strother told Oborski that the suspect was in the back.

“Get cover! Get cover! Come over here!” Oborski instructs Strother, telling him to get behind a vehicle.

APD said Strother’s gunfire did not hit James during the shooting.

James fled the scene in a vehicle stolen from the home as officers called for emergency medical services to provide medical help.

Strother was then taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, and he was late released to recover at home.

About 10 minutes after EMS arrived, James crashed the stolen vehicle at SH 45 and FM 1826, and the officers pursuing him took him into custody. He was found with a firearm, according to APD.

During the chase, other officers still at the Austral Loop home went inside to check on the home’s inhabitants, where they found Catherine Short, 56, and Lauren Short, 30, with fatal injuries. The mother and daughter were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers transported James to the Travis County Jail, and he was charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated assault against a public service in this case.

Additionally, James is accused of killing his parents in Bexar County before the Austin murders. He is also accused of killing Emmanuel Pop Ba, 32, and Sabrina Rahman, 24, in Austin a few hours before killing the mother and daughter on Austral Loop.

Austin police said its Special Investigations Unit will handle the criminal investigation with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. APD’s Internal Affairs Unit will conduct an administrative investigation into the police shooting.

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