Police in Austin are investigating what they believe was a murder-suicide involving a husband and wife. Officers responded to a 911 call from a man in North Austin and arrived to find a woman in her bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head. Her husband was outside the home with a similar injury. Joshua Lockwood was pronounced dead at the scene, and his wife died hours later in hospital.
Law enforcement officers said initial inquiries suggested Mr. Lockwood shot his wife before taking his own life. Police have offered a reward for any assistance with the case.
The killing is the 26th homicide in the Texas city this year. Last year’s figure was 66, which was dwarfed by 2021 figures when the number of murders reached 89 and made Austin one of America’s most dangerous cities. Police arrested a total of 51 suspects for the 2021 spree and noted that per capita homicides were still lower than in the 1980s.
New statistics released by the FBI in June revealed that after a crime peak in 2020, the number of violent offenses had begun to fall. For instance, between January and March 2024, violent crime was down 15% from last year, and homicides were down by just over 26%. Property crime dropped by 15%, burglary by 16%, and car theft by 17.3%.
Attorney General Merrick Garland celebrated the figures, saying they describe real people’s lives and not solely numbers of a page. “It represents people whose lives were saved,” he said.
An FBI report in 2021 noted that 2020 was the most violent year in America in decades, with a murder rate totaling 21,500 nationwide. The report stated the homicides rose during the summer months and peaked in July. The numbers were comprised, however, by a lack of data submission from some major US cities, including New York, Chicago, and New Orleans.
The Big Apple recorded 462 homicides in 2020, with 774 in Chicago and 201 in New Orleans.
