Police in Texas have arrested the former sheriff’s detective accused of shooting and killing three people Sunday in Austin.
Stephen Broderick, a former Travis County Sheriff’s Office detective who had been charged with raping a 16-year-old girl last summer, was taken into custody Monday morning in the city of Manor after two callers reported seeing a suspicious person walking along the side of U.S. 290, FOX7 Austin reports.
Manor Police Department Chief Ryan Phipps told the station that an unmarked vehicle was dispatched to the area east of Austin to confirm Broderick’s identity, before marked units were called in. The 41-year-old was then ordered to stop by officers and was arrested without incident, he added.
This file photo provided by the Austin Police Department shows Stephen Broderick, 41. Broderick was arrested Monday, April 19, 2021, in Manor, Texas, a suburb of Austin, in connection with the fatal shooting of three people in Austin on Sunday. (AP/Austin Police Department)
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Police also say a pistol was found in his waistband, and Broderick has now been taken to Travis County Jail.
Broderick is suspected in the fatal shooting of two Hispanic women and one Black man on Sunday in Austin, in what officials believe was a domestic dispute, according to FOX7 Austin.
“The victims were all known to this suspect,” interim Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said Sunday.
Two of the victims were identified Monday morning as former and current Elgin Independent School District students.
“We are heartbroken by the news of this senseless tragedy, and we extend our deepest condolences to the families of Willie Simmons III and Alyssa Broderick,” Elgin ISD Superintendent Jodi Duron said in a statement obtained by FOX7 Austin.
It added that Alyssa Broderick, who withdrew from the district last fall, “was an excellent student and athlete, enrolled in our Early College High School program and played on our girls’ basketball team.”
Law enforcement personnel investigate at the scene of a deadly shooting near an apartment complex in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. (Reuters)
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Simmons III, meanwhile, was a senior at Elgin High School and the captain of its football team, the statement said.
“He was an exceptional young man and leader among his peers,” the statement added. “Strong, both academically and athletically, he represented the very best of Elgin ISD.”
Counselors are now on hand to assist students, faculty and families affected by the shooting.
Broderick, prior to his arrest today, was charged with raping a 16-year-old girl last summer, officials said.
Police and emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal shooting Sunday in Austin. (AP)
Austin’s KXAN, citing an arrest affidavit, reported last June that the ex-detective was on administrative leave following an arrest for allegations of sexual assault.
U.S. Marshals arrested Broderick on June 6, three days after the teen accused him of assaulting her in a home in Elgin, Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
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Broderick reportedly spent 16 days in jail before he posted a reduced bail amount of $50,000.
Court records reviewed by the newspaper indicate his wife filed for divorce and obtained an order of protection after his arrest which was a year after he received a promotion by the Travis County Sheriffs Law Enforcement Association.
Fox News’ Evie Fordham, Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.