Allen police had ‘limited’ contact with suspected El Paso shooter
Officers with the Allen Police Department have had what they called “limited” contact with a 21-year-old man accused of killing 20 people Saturday in El Paso in an act of domestic terrorism.
Patrick Crusius faces charges of domestic terrorism and capital murder. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
According to records, Crusius has lived in Allen, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Allen police were still parked at the corner of Thornbury Lane and Kingsbury Court on Sunday morning. They told reporters to stay on the sidewalk and away from the suspect’s home.
Authorities have officially connected Crusius to the house but haven’t provided additional details.
The beige stone house sits on a large corner lot on the northwest corner of the intersection with a tall fence around the back yard.
A man identified as Crusius’ grandfather was seen speaking to a plain-clothed FBI agent who went to the door, according to KDFW/Channel 4. An Allen police officer on scene could not confirm the man was an FBI agent but did say Crusius’ family was home.
Few cars passed on Thornbury, and Kingsbury, a cul de sac, remained quiet.
Records also showed the suspect had also lived at a house on Roanoke Drive.
Notes on the door of the two story brick house requested people not disturb the home and said the Crusius family had moved.
A neighbor, who declined to give his name, recalled the family, but said he didn’t know much about them. Crusius may have been a few years ahead of his son in grade school, he said.
“They kept to themselves mostly,” he said.
A former neighbor, Leigh Ann Locascio, told the Los Angeles Times that Crusius was an “extreme loner” who sat alone on the bus and “didn’t interact a whole lot with anyone.”
Allen police said that they have had contact with Crusius three times.
In 2014, he was reported as a runaway. He returned home about 30 minutes after the police report was made.
Two years later, he was listed as a passenger on a Plano school district bus that was involved in a minor traffic accident. He was one of eight passengers on the bus.
In March, Crusius called Allen police dispatch to report a false residential alarm at his grandparents’ house. Police said the call was “cleared without incident according to protocol.”
The FBI said it completed three search warrants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in relation to its investigation.
An officer outside of the Kingsbury Court house said a warrant was served there between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published August 4, 2019 at 12:22 PM.
