The suspect was arrested last June and also spent 16 days in prison for allegedly raping a 16-year-old woman.
A massive multi-agency manhunt such as the FBI and U.S. Marshals was launched in Austin on Sunday to an armed former sheriff's detective wanted for murdering at least three people near an apartment complex.
Austin authorities said that the three lifeless bodies were all adults, such as two Hispanic females, and one Black male. They said they believe the suspect is Stephen Nicholas Broderick, who's a former Travis County Sheriff's Office detective that had been charged with raping a 16-year-old girl last summer.
U.S. Marshals detained Broderick on June 6, three days after the teen accused him of assaulting her in a home in Elgin, Texas, the Austin American-Statements reported.
Broderick allegedly spent 16 days in jail before he posted a reduced bail sum of $50,000. Court records reviewed by the newspaper indicate his wife filed for divorce and obtained an order of protection following his arrest which was a year later he received a promotion by the Travis County Sheriffs Law Enforcement Association.
The Austin Police Department said the suspect was on the run Sunday day and is considered armed and dangerous.
Chacon went on to say he Broderick could be sheltered somewhere awaiting law enforcement to leave.
Police say Broderick understood the victims but did not elaborate on the way or offer a motive for its gruesome slayings. In addition, he said a child was involved but that the kid has been found and is secure.
Brenda Torres stated she was driving by when she watched a little boy flag down a vehicle and a Black guy lying facedown on the ground.
"I watched the little boy point farther down the street," Torres said. "There was a person lying on the ground. I thought someone had simply fallen down or something. As my light turns green and I'm driving, I see hybrid after cop car after cop car rushing toward where I simply was."
EMS spokeswoman Capt. Christa Stedman stated the initial 911 call came in at 11:44 a.m. and three adults were shot. She said she did not know the precise location where they were killed but that EMS responded to an area that comprised a strip mall and several retail stores with a large apartment complex behind it.
"#ATCEMS has 15 response assets on-scene. No reports of different patients in this time. All resources staged [and] ready to enter into the instant episode place," Austin-Travis County EMS composed on Twitter earlier.
Pictures from the scene revealed a large presence of emergency responders, such as dozens of police automobiles. There have been also several ambulances and two SWAT trucks in the scene, and two police helicopters as well as a drone overhead.
The region contains a strip mall containing several retail shops and large apartment complexes located near wooded rolling hills.
Josh Katzowitz, that was shopping in the local Trader Joe's, said police and ambulances arrived"pouring in" to the region since he was departing. He didn't hear any shooting.
Police said a part of a nearby highway could be closed down in both directions.
