Central Texas shooting spree suspect found mentally incompetent
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man facing multiple charges of capital murder in connection with a Central Texas shooting spree in December 2023 was deemed mentally incompetent Oct. 30, according to Travis County court documents.
Shane James, 35, was accused of killing six people and injuring three others during a string of violent incidents Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 in 2023.
Among the victims were both his parents in Bexar County and four people in Travis County. James was also accused of shooting an Austin ISD police officer, an Austin Police Department officer and a cyclist.
As part of the judgment, James must be committed to a mental health facility or residential care facility for treatment. The judge also ordered James to be evaluated within 120 days as to whether he poses a threat to himself or others, and whether he will continue treatment.
Within the 120 days, James will have another hearing about the evaluation, and the judge will then determine what happens next.
Possible outcomes include:
- being committed for inpatient treatment or residential care
- receiving outpatient or community-based treatment and supervision
- transferring to an appropriate court for proceedings
- immediately being released
It isn’t clear how long it could take James to reach a mental health facility. If he is ultimately sent to a state hospital, the wait could be months, or more than a year, according to recent data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The state hospital system has been grappling with extended wait times for people to reach beds for years. For those charged with crimes and found incompetent to stand trial, the waitlist is split into two main groups: a maximum-security list and a non-maximum-security list.
Given James’ murder charges, he would likely be placed on the maximum-security waitlist, which has longer wait times and fewer beds. As of August 2024, there were 582 people on that list waiting an average of one year for a bed, according to HHSC data.
While on the waitlist, most suspects wait in county jails. KXAN has done multiple investigations into how that wait in jail can impact mentally ill suspects.
The number of people on the state hospital waitlist grew steadily for years, peaking around the spring of 2023. In April 2023, there were over 1,000 people on a waitlist for a maximum security state hospital bed. They were waiting an average of 680 days, HHSC data shows. Since that time, the waitlist – and length of wait – have edged downward.
State hospital officials have said the waitlist numbers are improving because of increased staffing, which has allowed more beds to be brought back online, among other reasons.