NewsLocal News

Actions

Rockport PD: Two dead, one injured in Rockport murder-suicide

RockportPD.jpg
Posted at 4:21 PM, Jul 14, 2023
and last updated 2023-07-14 22:10:03-04

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Thursday night, Rockport Police received a call at 11:18 p.m. of an active shooter situation on the 800 block of South Mathis Street in Rockport.

Police Chief Greg Stevens tells KRIS 6 an argument broke out between 57-year-old Richard Becker and 59-year-old Sharon Simmons, and at some point, Becker shot and killed Ms. Simmons.

63-year-old Loretta Jones, who also lives in the home, was also shot. She managed to escape the house and call police from a neighbor's house.

Police say Ms. Simmons' 13-year-old and 14-year-old granddaughters, along with another 13-year-old girl, were still in the home.

When Rockport Police, Aransas County Sheriffs Deputies, and a Texas DPS Trooper all arrived on scene, it was determined that it was still an active hostage situation and called Corpus Christi Police and asked that SWAT be deployed to the scene.

While police were waiting on SWAT to arrive, detectives with Rockport Police got a warrant for Becker's arrest and a search warrant for the home.

At some point, the two 13-year-old girls managed to escape from the home through a window.

Police used one of the girl's phones to call the 14-year-old and talked her into leaving through another window.

Once all three girls were safe, Corpus Christi SWAT attempted to contact Becker.

After contact with Becker failed, they made entry into the home, where they found Becker dead in a bedroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Loretta Jones remains hospitalized but is expected to recover.

The 13-year-old and 14-year-old are now staying with another relative, and the other 13-year-old has been released to her parents.

Becker was a convicted felon who was on parole for having a weapon but police had never responded to a domestic case at the home.

Investigators are now trying to determine how he got the gun, and what led up to the shooting.

For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.