Legal official shot in Texas

Criminal District Attorney Mike McLelland was found dead on Saturday alongside his wife at their home in Kaufman County, East of Dallas.

According to local sources speaking to CBS News, McLelland, a 23-year Army veteran, and his wife Cynthia appeared to have been shot with an assault rifle. There were no signs of forced entry into the household.

The incident comes just two months after Kaufman County’s Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was gunned down outside the country courthouse in broad daylight by well-armed assailants wearing tactical vests.

Kaufman Police Chief Chris Aulbaugh told Dallas Morning News “It is a shock. It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can imagine the double shock and until we know what happened, I really can’t confirm it’s related, but you always have to assume until it’s proven otherwise.”

At the funeral of Mark Hasse on 9 February, McLelland had vowed to catch those responsible for the killing and later stated, “Whoever did this was smarter than the average bear. They knew what they were doing.”

There have been no arrests over the death of Mr Hasse and the perpetrators of the killings have yet to be identified, while the motive remains unclear – although the killings in Texas have been linked with the shooting of Colorado Prisons Chief Tom Clements on 19 March. 

The shooting of Clements has been linked to a 28-year-old suspect – Evan Spencer Ebel – who died in a shootout with Police 135km from Kaufman County on 21 March. Ebel, who was a former Colorado Prison inmate, has been linked to the so-called “211 Crew” – a white supremacist group.

The link between the killings of the three law officials is considered to be that the Kaufman County District Attorney is one of several agencies involved in the investigation of two members of a different white supremacists group, who were recently charged with racketeering at the beginning of this year.

As fears rise for public officials over an apparent lack of security, the Sheriffs Department will lead a multi-agency investigation – that includes the Texas Rangers – to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Carl Carlstedt