BAYTOWN, Texas — Two people were found dead in Baytown on Sunday and they're believed to be connected to a man who killed two men and injured two others last week, according to police.
The bodies were found Sunday in an oil field near Causeway Road and Evergreen.
The causes of death and identities of the two people have not been released, but Baytown police said through the course of an investigation they learned the deaths may be linked to the suspect who killed two men and injured two others in two separate shootings last week.
The suspect in those shootings was identified as 33-year-old Ron Welch. He was later shot and killed by police.
What happened
Wednesday was a chaotic day for Baytown officers who were encountered by Welch, who they said shot four people, killing two of them.
According to Baytown Police Chief John Stringer, his department got a call about a shooting near the intersection of Tri City Beach Road and Evergreen Road Wednesday at around 6:30 p.m. Police found a man and a woman who had been shot. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
While they were investigating that shooting, they got a call about another shooting at the trailer park down the road from where they were. One of the victims of that shooting was flown to a hospital where they were later pronounced dead.
When officers made it to the trailer park, witnesses told them Welch was heading back to the Tri City Beach Road shooting scene.
Stringer said officers confronted Welch and were forced to shoot him, but didn’t provide specifics. Welch didn’t survive.
“Any time that an officer discharges their weapon, it has to be in defense of their own life or the life of another person,” Stringer said, answering a reporter’s question. “There was a physical threat, yes.”
Stringer said the other two people that were shot and injured were expected to survive.
As for the officers involved in Welch's death, they were put on paid administrative leave, which Stringer said is standard in these cases.
The victims in the shootings have not been identified. Police said they all lived in the same community as Welch.
The Baytown Police Department and Harris County District Attorney’s Office are investigating.