Texas teen murdered three family members, two dogs before killing himself as police arrived

ARANSAS PASS, Texas — A Texas teen murdered three family members along with two dogs, posted graphic photos of his carnage on social media and then killed himself when police discovered his location and tried to get him to surrender, authorities said.

William Quince Colburn III gunned down William Colburn Jr., 63, Janna Colburn, 53, and Emma Colburn, 13, inside a recreational vehicle near Aransas Pass, authorities said, New York Post reported.

Aransas Pass Police Department provided the following overview on Wednesday:

Late this past evening, APPD officers began an investigation into threats made by a male juvenile. The juvenile conveyed graphic images of dead individuals who he identified as his family who he had killed and shared on a social media platform. Further, he threatened to continue violence at an area school. Officers sensing the urgency in the information shared, began working on the case. Unbeknownst to APPD, the San Patricio County Sheriff’s office was likewise working on the case from a different complaint shared with them via Texas DPS.

Investigating officers from Ingleside PD, the Sheriff’s office, and APPD managed to track the male down to an RV he was known to be living at. They made contact with the male juvenile and asked him to step out of his residence. He refused. The officers heard a single gunshot and the thud of a person falling to the ground. Entry was made into the RV and immediately discovered the graphic scene shared over social media. The male juvenile was likewise found deceased from a gunshot wound. In total, investigators found 4 deceased bodies and 2 deceased dogs.

San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera said Colburn III and the three victims were related, but he did not yet know the specifics.

Law enforcement authorities credited the “speedy action” of the social media site and the other teen members of the group where the threat was posted. Had it not been for the quick response, “we might well have been working on an even more tragic event later this morning,” they said.

“I’m glad that we were able to find him before something worse could have happened,” Rivera affirmed.

It was unclear which school the teen was targeting since he was unregistered and possibly homeschooled, the Post reported.

“I’m not sure which school he planned to attack but he certainly had the weapons and ammunition to do so,” Rivera said.

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