Texas shooting kills 6; Harris County standoff suspect Ron Lee Haskell in custody

SPRING, Texas -- The suspect in a north Harris County shooting Wednesday that left six people, including four children, dead and a seventh wounded finally gave himself up after a chase and standoff that lasted for hours.

Constable Ron Hickman with Harris County Precinct 4 updated the public about the investigation around 5:25 a.m. Thursday.

It all started with the discovery of the shooting victims' bodies at a home in the 700 block of Leaflet Lane near Interstate 45 and Cypresswood. According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, three children and two adults died at the scene. Another two kids - a 4-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl - were transported via Life Flight to the hospital. The boy died at the hospital and the 15-year-old, who was shot in the head, remains in critical condition.

The other victims killed are 39-year-old Stephen Stay and his 33-year-old wife Katie, a 13-year-old boy, as well as 9- and 7-year-old girls.

Ron Lee Haskell, 33, now faces six counts of capital murder. It's believed he used one gun. He is being held without bond.

The surviving teen told deputies the shooter is a family member going through a messy divorce from his estranged wife. She told detectives the suspect is her ex-uncle. She told police the suspect came to the home dressed as a Fed-Ex worker and asked for her parents. When she said they weren't home, he left but came back a second time while her parents still weren't home, police said.

The survivor told police Haskell then kicked in the front door and told her not to close it, then he tied her up. The rest of the family came home later, at which point he tied up the family, face down, asking where his wife was, police said. When they said they didn't know, he then shot all of them execution-style in the back of the head.

Police say one of the bullets struck the surviving teen's skull, fracturing it. She played dead until the suspect left, then called 911, police said.

The lone survivor also told deputies the suspect was going to a restaurant to kill another family member who works there. Deputies were able to intercept the suspect after a chase that came to an end about three miles from the shooting scene.

A line of about two dozen patrol cars followed Haskell's vehicle to the end of the street shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday. That's where the suspect's boxed-in vehicle remained for over three hours. As darkness fell over the neighborhood, two armored trucks were brought in to block the car from behind and the front as negotiators began their work. Those talks continued for at least three hours before Haskell, who'd sporadically hold a gun up to his head, finally surrendered himself to authorities.

Sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Gilliland said when he and other officers approached the car, Haskell was "just sitting in his car looking out at us."

Residents in the area were forced to evacuate their homes during the standoff.

"They actually knocked on the door. My boyfriend answered and he was like, 'Can y'all get out as quick as possible?'" witness Samantha Aytes said. "I was like, pretty freaked out because nothing ever happens in Spring. So I just wasn't expecting it at all."

Neighbors say the family had lived at the home on Leaflet for some time.

"It's just a terrible thing. I don't know what could have happened. " neighbor Dale Collier said. "Just a bad deal, bad, bad deal. You wouldn't think something like that would happen in a neighborhood like this. It's real quiet, never anything going on."

The Associated Press contributed to this report