Man Kills Self After Shooting Rampage & Midday Roundup

By KERA News & Wire Services

Dallas, TX – Wichita Falls police are investigating whether a rampage that left two people dead and four hurt -- was about race. Police say a white man shot up a book store cafe, wounding four women, then killed a bar worker before holing up in a home -- and committing suicide.

Sgt. Joe Snyder says Ross William Muehlberger's rampage, which ended early yesterday, may have been motivated by racial hatred.

Snyder says several witnesses said the suspect was yelling racial epithets during Tuesday night's shootings.

Three of the wounded women are black. The other is Hispanic. None suffered life-threatening injuries. Two are stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base.

Muehlberger was facing aggravated assault charges in the October stabbing of two men at a Lake Wichita park. He'd been
sentenced to probation in 2008 after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery.

He was charged with aggravated assault on Dec. 31 for allegedly threatening to kill a girlfriend.

Texas court hears state's appeal in gay divorce

An appeals court has taken under advisement a dispute over whether two men who wed in Massachusetts -- where gay
marriage is legal -- can divorce in Texas, where it's not.

A lawyer for one of the Dallas men told the 5th Texas Court of Appeals yesterday that his client is entitled to a divorce because he had a valid marriage.

But the Attorney General's Office argued, before the three-judge panel in Dallas, that the marriage isn't recognized by the state and the men can't divorce in Texas. Assistant solicitor general Jimmy Blacklock says the men's union can only be voided.

The state appealed a Dallas judge's October ruling that granted a divorce to the men and rejected that state's same-sex marriage ban.

Abbott is also appealing an Austin judge's ruling this spring that granted a divorce to two women.

The court did not give a time frame for a ruling.

Estranged husband man dead in burned Rowlett house

Rowlett police have identified a man found dead in a woman's burned house as her shotgun-toting estranged
husband. Police on Thursday identified the man as 42-year-old Jacque Eagon.

Investigators believe Eagon broke into the home of 36-year-old Veronica Galaviz and threatened to kill her early Wednesday. They say Eagon and the woman's 23-year-old boyfriend, David Canmann, struggled over the weapon and the younger man suffered a gunshot wound in the hand.

Police say apparently after the wife and her boyfriend left the house, Eagon went back in and set it on fire. Firefighters discovered his remains in the burned residence.

Police say Galaviz had a protective order against Eagon.

Rowlett is 15 miles northeast of Dallas.