A teenager was catfished by police officer Austin Lee Edwards. Edwards killed her mother and grandparents but was saved by a neighbor calling 911.
Officer Austin Lee Edwards, 28, posed as a teen online before driving from Virginia to California last Friday to kill the girl’s family members, authorities said on Wednesday.
The sheriff’s deputy then set fire to their Riverside home with Mark Winek, 69; Sharie Winek, 65; and their 38-year-old daughter, Brooke Winek inside, they added.
The neighbor called the police to report Edwards red Kia Soul as a suspicious car. When officers ran the license plate they discovered that Edwards was the owner and has filed a police report for vandalism. The police report listed his cell number and the police were able to ping his phone and locate him in Southern California.
He then got into a gun battle with San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies and died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the coroner’s office said Wednesday.
Michelle – Mark and Sharie’s daughter and Brooke’s sister – said: “The loving neighbors on my parents’ street saw an unfamiliar car and they immediately reported it to authorities.
“Making that call from that neighbor saved my niece’s life and that neighbor is a hero in our eyes.”
No details have been released regarding the communication between the teen and Edwards. They are still investigating and are unaware if this was their first encounter and if she knew he was coming to California. They did say she stopped messaging Edwards after he asked for nudes. They believe he parked in a neighbor’s driveway, walked to the teen’s house, killed her family, and kidnapped the teen on Friday. They do not know how he got into the teen’s home or started the house fire yet. They are also looking into if he has victimized other minors.
Source The Sun
