Ex-Texas deputy wanted in deaths of three arrested after manhunt
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A manhunt for a former Texas sheriff’s deputy suspected in the fatal shooting of three people in Austin ended Monday when authorities said he was arrested without incident about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the scene of the weekend attack.
Prosecutors said they would pursue capital murder charges against Stephen Broderick, 41, who was being held without bail at the Travis County jail.
A school district near Austin said the victims in Sunday’s shooting included both a high school football team captain and another student who was enrolled in an early college program before leaving last fall. Police have said Broderick knew the victims but have not said how, and they have not offered a possible motive.
Officers found Broderick, 41, along a rural road shortly after sunrise in Manor, an Austin suburb, after receiving reports of a suspicious person matching the description of the suspect in Sunday’s shooting, Manor Police Chief Ryan Phipps said. He said Broderick had a loaded pistol in his waistband.
“I’m truly heartbroken that a former Travis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy is the suspect in such a horrific incident,” Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez said in a statement.
The shooting happened around noon Sunday at an apartment complex in a popular shopping area known as the Arboretum. Authorities sent active shooter alerts on social media, unnerving Austin residents at a time when the U.S. has been wracked in recent weeks by mass killings.
A heavy presence of police swarmed the area, a busy Austin highway was closed in both directions and police told residents to shelter in place as they looked for the suspected shooter. As the manhunt got underway, police later said they did not believe the suspect was targeting random people but urged residents to remain vigilant.