Police ID Suspect In South Austin Shooting Spree (Updated)

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Police on Thursday identified the man they say is behind a shooting spree in South Austin this week, arresting him outside a South Austin apartment complex last night where a man was fatally shot.
The suspect was identified as Charles Curry, 29. He's being held at the Travis County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to jail records. His arrest comes a day after four separate shootings occurred in South Austin on Wednesday afternoon that left two people injured. It also comes after Monday's fatal shooting of a man outside a South Austin apartment complex named the Post South Lamar.

One of the shootings on Wednesday occurred just after 2 p.m. along the 8100 block of Interstate 35 service road between William Cannon Drive and Slaughter Lane, according to Austin-Travis County EMS medics. In that incident, a 33-year-old woman was transported to St. David's South Austin Medical Center after being shot in the head while driving with her three children, police said. The woman's injuries were deemed serious but not life-threatening.

A second shooting took place along the 5300 block of Ponciana Drive and a third at the Post South Lamar Apartments at 1500 block of South Lamar Boulevard. The last shooting incident occurred along the 6300 block of Bob Wentz Park Road.

At a 1:30 p.m. press conference on Thursday, Assistant Police Chief Joe Chacon said the suspect is accused of shooting the victims at random while driving in his car. He said police were able to tie the shooting rampage to the fatal shooting on Monday after determining the same weapon was used in both incidents.

Related story: Body Found In South Austin Apartment Complex

Curry reportedly was arrested at the Post South Lamar luxury apartments Wednesday night, the site where police found a mortally wounded Christian Meroney, 32, shortly before he succumbed to his injuries. Curry's arrest at that location has given rise to speculation that he is connected to that shooting as well, as suggested — but not officially confirmed — in a police press advisory issued on Thursday.

A woman who presumably lives in the area of the Post South Lamar complex tweeted video presented as showing Curry's arrest Thursday night outside the complex, further buttressing the theory that Curry is connected to the fatal shooting there.

From July 11:

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Police responded to a number of shooting incidents in South Austin on Wednesday, ultimately taking a single suspect into custody.

Just after 2 p.m., the Austin Police Department responded to a so-called "gun hot shot" call along the 8100 block of the Interstate 35 southbound service road. Upon investigating, police learned the suspect had shot at a vehicle — injuring the driver in the process. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

In a press advisory, police said the suspect may have been involved in three other shooting incidents at nearby locations. Another person was injured before being transported to a hospital with injuries not deemed to be life-threatening, according to police.

By 6 p.m., the suspect was taken into custody.

Police provided no further details: "This is an active and ongoing investigation. This is all that is releasable at this time. We will release more information tomorrow," police wrote in the advisory.

Patch will update this story as more details are provided.

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