A Virginia sheriff's deputy identified as 28-year-old Austin Lee Edwards was killed in a shootout in Riverside, California on Friday (November 25) after killing the grandparents and mother of a teen he catfished and kidnapped earlier that day.
On Friday morning, police received a call about a welfare check after someone witness a young girl in distress being ushered into a car. The Riverside Fire Department was the first to respond to the scene, and upon arriving, they found the home on fire along with three apparent homicide victims inside, They were identified as 69-year-old Mark Winek, his wife, 65-year-old Sharie Winek, and their daughter, 38-year-old Brooke Winek.
Later that day, the teenage daughter of Brooke Winek was found unharmed and driven around by Austin Lee Edwards. According to police, Edwards fired shots at officers and was killed in a shootout in the unincorporated area of Kelso.
Riverside Police Department later provided more detail on the situation in a statement, which read, "It is believed Edwards had developed an online relationship with the teen and obtained her personal information. He traveled from Virginia to Riverside where he parked his vehicle in a neighbor's driveway and walked to the teen's home. At some point, he murdered the teen's grandfather, grandmother, and mother before walking back to his vehicle with the teen and leaving."
More on Edwards' background was also revealed, including his work as a trooper with the Virginia State Police. Two weeks prior to the incident, Edwards was hired as a deputy of the Washington County Sheriff's Department, which is 2,500 miles away from Riverside, California, where the Wineks were killed.
Washington County Sheriff Blake Andis released a statement, which read, "It is shocking and sad to the entire law enforcement community that such an evil and wicked person could infiltrate law enforcement while concealing his true identity as a computer predator and murderer. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Winek family, their friends, officers, and all of those affected by this heinous crime."
Source: Insider
