Austin Lee Edwards Wiki – Austin Lee Edwards Biography

The Virginia police officer, who seized a 15-year-old Southern California girl and kidnapped her before murdering her three relatives, ended her life using his own service weapon, authorities have revealed. Austin Lee Edwards took his own life during a SWAT team shootout after a cross-country trip to the girl’s Riverside home, where he shot and killed her family before allegedly setting the house on fire.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department also made a shocking revelation that Edwards’ co-workers in Virginia removed items from his home before an official search was conducted. A sheriff’s van and a black trash bag were removed from the man’s home in Abingdon, Virginia, on November 25, the Los Angeles Times reported. Riverside Police Department authorities were unaware of the removal of the items and have revealed their doubts about the search.

Austin Lee Edwards Age

The age of Austin Lee Edwards is 17 years.

Austin Lee Edwards,

kill himself during shootout with SWAT team

Edwards traveled 2,500 miles to the girl’s home after he tricked her with a false identity, claiming he was a 17-year-old boy. Authorities are investigating how he was able to determine the girl’s location. Arriving at the young woman’s residence, he murdered Mark Winek, 69; his wife, Sharie Winek, 65; and his daughter Brooke Winek, 38, before setting the house on fire and driving off with Brooke Winek’s 15-year-old daughter. Initially, it was reported that Edwards was killed during the shootout with police, apparently by police while returning fire.

However, the bullet that killed Edwards was from a gun in his apartment. “Detectives determined that the weapon used was a semi-automatic service pistol issued by Edwards’ department,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department told the Los Angeles Times. Fortunately, the 15-year-old girl was uninjured during the shooting and is being treated for trauma therapy. As police announced that Edwards had taken her own life, video showed at least two co-workers at the Washington County sheriff’s office, where Edwards worked, removing items from her Virginia home. Deputies were seen at the man’s newly purchased home, in which he had blacked out the windows, pulling out a sheriff’s van and a bag of trash.

Southern California agencies investigating the situation said they were unaware of the actions taken by Washington County deputies. “We are not aware of any actions taken at his home prior to the search warrant on November 26,” a spokesman for the Smyth County Sheriff’s Department said. “We are not aware of any additional searches,” the person said. An attorney who spoke to the Times described the situation as “bizarre” and said it doesn’t make sense why agents working for Washington County, where Edwards worked, would travel to a different county to conduct a search.

“This is weird from the start because Washington County doesn’t have jurisdiction to do anything in Smyth County,” said Yancey Ellis, a partner at Carmichael, Ellis & Brock, a Virginia criminal defense firm. “If you want to do something in another county, you have to go to the local police,” she told the LA Times. “This stinks pretty bad,” said a Washington, DC-based criminal lawyer.

There are only a few reasons why that can happen, and none of them are good or legal.” It’s unclear if the officers who went to the slain Edward’s home had a search warrant.

Another shocking incident revealed that Edwards was detained in 2016 for psychiatric evaluation after threatening to kill himself and his father over problems he was having with his then-girlfriend. Despite the incident, Edwards was still accepted into the Virginia State Police earlier this year and also served with the sheriff’s office in Washington County, Virginia this fall.

Read More

Who is Quinton Simon? Wiki, Bio, Age, Family, Mother is charged with the murder of toddler