In a shooting match with police following the death of a Virginia State Police officer, an ex-officer was killed. “catfished” a California teen, drove across the country and killed her mother and grandparents, authorities said.
Austin Lee Edwards, 28, was shot and killed by deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office Friday, according to the department. According to authorities, Edwards was chased and chased by officers on the hunt for him. He then crashed his car.
According to the department, Edwards shot and killed deputies after he left the vehicle. Edwards had been a Virginia state trooper and was most recently employed by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia, authorities said.
According to deputies, the unidentified teenage girl was in the car but was not hurt.
Authorities believe Edwards drove from Virginia to California to start an online relationship under false pretenses with the teenage girl.
“Detectives determined Edwards had met the female teenager through the common form of online deception known as ‘catfishing,’ where someone pretends to be a different person than they actually are,” Riverside Police Department issued a statement.
“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 car in a neighbor’s driveway and walked into the teen’s home,” According to the statement.
Officers said that police were called to Riverside House to conduct a welfare check. They found a man with a distressed look and a woman. Later, the woman was identified as the teenager girl.
Firefighters responded to calls about a nearby fire. Three bodies were discovered in the entranceway. “Their bodies were pulled outside where it was determined they were victims of an apparent homicide,” According to police
Riverside officers issued an urgent appeal to nearby law enforcement agencies to look out for Edwards, and a teenage girl taken from the home.
Later, his car was spotted in San Bernardino County. Deputies chased it.
The bodies were identified as the girl’s mother and grandparents: 38-year-old Brooke Winek, 69-year-old Mark Winek, and his 65-year-old wife, Sharie Winek. They were not able to release their causes of death.
The girl was taken into protective custody by the Riverside County Department of Public and Social Services.