{"id":477735,"date":"2026-10-27T02:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T02:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477735\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T02:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T02:44:08","slug":"jury-finds-shane-james-competent-to-stand-trial-in-2023-austin-san-antonio-shooting-spree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477735\/","title":{"rendered":"Jury finds Shane James competent to stand trial in 2023 Austin-San Antonio shooting spree"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A Travis County jury found Shane James competent to stand trial Monday in connection with a December 2023 shooting spree<\/a> across Austin and San Antonio that left six people dead and three others injured.<\/p>\n

The ruling clears the way for James’ capital murder trial<\/a> to move forward, with jury selection scheduled to begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. and the trial set to begin Thursday.<\/p>\n

James appeared in a Travis County courtroom Monday as his defense attorneys argued that symptoms of schizophrenia interfere with his ability to participate in his defense.<\/p>\n

Under Texas law, a defendant may be found incompetent to stand trial if they lack the ability to sufficiently consult with their attorney or do not have a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings against them.<\/p>\n

Two forensic psychologists testified Monday that James experiences symptoms of schizophrenia, including auditory hallucinations and delusions.<\/p>\n

Mollimichelle McClendon, a psychologist called by the defense, testified that James recently described hearing voices telling him they “hated him” and expressed delusions involving “laser masters.”<\/p>\n

McClendon said James understands the charges against him and the potential punishments he faces but raised concerns about his delayed thinking and impaired judgment.<\/p>\n

The state’s forensic psychologist, Kimberly Harrison, testified that James’ hallucinations are manageable and have improved over time.<\/p>\n

After a brief deliberation, the 12-member jury determined there was insufficient evidence to find James incompetent to stand trial.<\/p>\n

RELATED| Man charged in San Antonio-Austin shootings that killed 6 due in court in Austin<\/p>\n

Previous competency rulings<\/p>\n

Monday’s decision marks another development in a case that has faced delays over questions about James’ mental competency.<\/p>\n

According to previous CBS Austin reporting, a judge found James incompetent to stand trial<\/a> in November 2024 and ordered him to undergo treatment.<\/p>\n

In July 2025, a judge ruled James competent to stand trial<\/a>. However, his mental competency was raised again ahead of this week’s proceedings.<\/p>\n

Court filings in September also indicated that James’ attorneys planned to argue he was legally insane<\/a> at the time of the shootings.<\/p>\n

Competency to stand trial and an insanity defense are separate legal issues. Competency addresses whether a defendant can understand court proceedings and assist in their defense, while an insanity defense concerns their legal responsibility at the time of the alleged crimes.<\/p>\n

What happened during the December 2023 shootings?<\/p>\n

James faces multiple charges, including capital murder and aggravated assault, stemming from a series of shootings on Dec. 4 and 5, 2023.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe the violence began in the San Antonio area, where James allegedly killed his parents before traveling to Austin.<\/p>\n

On the morning of Dec. 5, an Austin ISD police officer was shot near Northeast Early College High School.<\/p>\n

Around noon, two people were fatally shot on Shadywood Drive in South Austin.<\/p>\n

Later that afternoon, a cyclist was shot and injured near West Slaughter Lane.<\/p>\n

That evening, police responding to a reported burglary at a home on Austral Loop in Southwest Austin encountered a gunman who opened fire, injuring an Austin police officer. Two women were later found dead inside the home.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested James following a police pursuit that ended in a crash.<\/p>\n

In total, six people were killed, and three others were injured, including two law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

James’ trial is scheduled to begin Thursday, Oct. 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A Travis County jury found Shane James competent to stand trial Monday in connection with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-477735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}