LOS ANGELES — The Virginia sheriff's deputy who killed three family members of a Riverside teenager he had allegedly been "grooming" used his service weapon to fatally shoot himself at the end of a chase with law enforcement, authorities said Friday.
Austin Lee Edwards, 28, a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, had "catfished" the 15-year-old girl, posing as someone else to form an exploitative relationship with her online, investigators said.
Last month, Edwards made the cross-country drive from Virginia and arrived at the Riverside home, where he killed Mark Winek, 69; his wife, Sharie Winek, 65; and their daughter Brooke Winek, 38, on Nov. 25 before setting fire to the home and leaving with Brooke Winek's 15-year-old daughter.
