Neighbors Mourning Justin Quadruple Shooting
JUSTIN (CBS 11 NEWS) - The Tarrant County Medical Examiner now confirms the man who died in a shootout with Justin Police Thursday was killed by gunshot wounds to the chest.
Though technically ruled a homicide, it's still unclear whether those wounds were self-inflicted or came from the weapon of the officer who was also shot in the incident.
Crime scene tape still wraps the home where 29-year-old Bodie Stewart shot two family members and a policeman before being shot and killed himself.
This small, tightly-knit community is left tying to cope. Predictably, people here are stunned. "It's a tragedy that it happened." Don Olson says he moved here from the "big city" years ago to get away from this kind of thing. He says he's feeling something "quite a bit like shock."
When people say "this kind of thing doesn't happen here," they're serious. This is the first officer-related shooting in Justin since the 1920s.
Investigators confirmed Stewart shot his father and grandfather, then shot arriving officer Kevin James as he stepped out of his squad car.
James returned fire, hitting the younger Stewart. Stewart died on the way to the hospital. James and the other two were airlifted to local hospitals and are expected to recover.
Justin's police chief said the shock reverberates through his small force of six full-time officers, and that a Texas Rangers Crisis Team is coming to offer counseling and support even as the Rangers themselves conduct the official investigation.
"I think it'll mend," Don Olsen said of his community, one he says works because neighbors appreciate neighbors. "Stop and talk over the fence, out for walks with your dog, everybody says 'Hi' and 'Welcome to the community.'"
