Firefighters and Riverside Police collect exterior a burned dwelling in Riverside, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 following a home fireplace. Three our bodies have been present in the home which police are investigating as a murder. Will Lester, Related Press
This photograph supplied by the Riverside Police Division exhibits Austin Lee Edwards, the suspect in a triple murder in Southern California who died in a shootout with police Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Edwards is believed to have pushed throughout the nation to satisfy a teenage woman earlier than killing three members of her household, police mentioned. Riverside Police Division through Related Press
The suspect in a triple murder who was killed in a gunfight with police was reportedly himself a legislation enforcement officer from Virginia who drove cross-country to satisfy an adolescent he’d catfished on-line, earlier than killing her mom and grandparents and abducting her.
Cops in Riverside, California, have been known as to verify the welfare of a younger feminine who appeared in misery Friday as she was seen getting right into a automobile with a male, and arrived to seek out the home burning and three members of a household lifeless, in response to a police report.
In a information launch, the Riverside Police Division recognized the victims as Mark Winek, 69; his spouse Sharie Winek, 65; and their daughter Brooke Winek, 38. Police mentioned they have been the grandparents and mom of the teenager, whose misery prompted a witness to name the police.
The suspect, recognized as Austin Lee Edwards, 28, was killed in an alternate of gunfire with police Friday evening after he and the woman have been noticed by native police in Kelso, an unincorporated part of San Bernardino County.
The Los Angeles Instances mentioned the woman was not bodily harmed and was taken into protecting custody by the Riverside County Division of Public Social Companies.
“Detectives decided Edwards had met the feminine teenager by means of the frequent type of on-line deception often called ‘catfishing,’ the place somebody pretends to be a unique individual than they really are,” authorities mentioned within the launch. “It's believed Edwards had developed a web-based relationship with the teenager and obtained her private info. He traveled from Virginia to Riverside the place he parked his automobile in a neighbor’s driveway and walked into the teenager’s dwelling.”
This photograph supplied by the Riverside Police Division exhibits Austin Lee Edwards, the suspect in a triple murder in Southern California who died in a shootout with police Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Edwards is believed to have pushed throughout the nation to satisfy a teenage woman earlier than killing three members of her household, police mentioned.
Riverside Police Division through Related Press
The discharge added, “In some unspecified time in the future, he murdered the teenager’s grandfather, grandmother and mom earlier than strolling again to his car with the teenager and leaving. Detectives realized Edwards had labored for the Virginia State Police till lately employed on the Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace within the state of Virginia.”
In accordance with The Related Press, “Edwards was employed by the Virginia State Police and entered the police academy on July 6, 2021, Virginia State Police Public Relations Supervisor Corinne Geller informed The Related Press in an electronic mail. He graduated as a trooper on Jan. 21, 2022, and was assigned to Henrico County throughout the company’s Richmond Division till his resignation on Oct. 28.”
The Los Angeles Instances was informed by Corinne Geller, a Virginia state police spokesperson, that through the 15 months Edwards labored there, he “by no means exhibited any behaviors to set off any inside administrative or felony investigations.” And his background verify and psychological analysis didn’t elevate “any indicators of concern,” she mentioned.
He was employed in Washington County Nov. 16 and had begun his patrol obligation orientation, in response to a assertion from the sheriff’s workplace.
“It's surprising and unhappy to your complete legislation enforcement neighborhood that such an evil and depraved individual might infiltrate legislation enforcement whereas concealing his true identification as a pc predator and assassin. Our ideas and prayers are with the Winek household, their pals, officers, and all of these affected by this heinous crime,” Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis mentioned within the launch.
The AP mentioned Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez described the case as “one more horrific reminder of the predators current on-line who prey on our kids. When you’ve already had a dialog together with your children on tips on how to be protected on-line and on social media, have it once more. If not, begin it now to raised defend them,” he mentioned.