A Virginia state trooper was fatally shot Friday in a shootout with officers in Southern California after killing relatives of a teenager he had tricked into running away with on social media, Riverside authorities said.
Austin Lee Edwards, 28, lived in North Chesterfield Virginia, and met the teen online;
he obtained her personal information from her by misleading her with a false identity, according to Riverside police, in a tactic known as
catfishing
.
The man drove from one end of the country to the other to meet the young woman, whose age was not disclosed.
Police believe he parked her car in the driveway of a family neighbor's house, walked up to the house and killed three people before fleeing with her.
He is accused of murdering the teenager's mother and two grandparents, identified as Mark Winek, 69;
his wife, Sharie Winek, 65, and his daughter, Brooke Winek, 38.
Police said the exact causes of his death remain under investigation.
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Edwards set fire to the family's home in Riverside (in urban Los Angeles) and escaped with the young woman, the Riverside Police Department said in a statement.
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Investigators distributed a description of Edwards' vehicle and several hours later located the car in the Kelso, an area of San Bernardino County, with the man and the young woman.
Edwards fired and was fatally wounded by deputies, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and Riverside police said.
The young woman was not injured and she was placed in the care of the Riverside County Department of Social Services.
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Edwards was hired by the Virginia State Police and entered their academy on July 6, 2021, Virginia State Police Public Relations manager Corinne Geller explained to The Associated Press news agency in an email. .
He graduated as an officer on January 21, 2022, and was assigned to Henrico County within the agency's Richmond Division until his resignation on October 28.
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Edwards was hired as a deputy sheriff in Washington County, Virginia, on November 16, said Alicia Roland, the county's public information officer.
Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez called the case "another horrifying reminder of the predators out there online who prey on our children."
"If you've already talked to your kids about how to protect themselves on social media, do it again. If not, start now to better protect them," Gonzalez said.
With information from AP and
NBC News
