Warrant: Suspect drank with Texas victims, then shot them
The bodies of Kamp, his two sons, and Hannah Johnson’s son were found in a pond behind Hudson’s home at 1:15 p.m. Monday.
She stayed hidden until she felt safe to come out.
Cynthia Johnson, a former ME resident, says the gunman may have been angry that the campers were on land sold to one of them and fenced off.
Mrs. Johnson, the affidavit said, was hiding at the campsite from Hudson when he returned to the trailer, remaining out of sight when she heard the final shots. “They were valued members of the university community and we are deeply saddened by this senseless tragedy and our hearts go out to the family”, said Laurie Gardner, UMF’s chief business officer. She fled and hid in the woods, but saw her husband fall on the steps of the camper, where Hudson shot him.
The suspect, identified as 33-year-old William Hudson, owns property next to where the families were camping.
“Cynthia Johnson heard multiple gunshots”, the warrant says. The local authorities were informed around 7 a.m by a woman who managed to survive the onslaught and hid in the nearby woods, only to be found later by the side of a road. “While speaking to Hudson through the door, he discontinued communication and barricaded himself inside”.
The motive for the attack remains unclear.
Anderson County is in east Texas between Dallas and Houston.
Hudson had recently been arrested for assault within the last few weeks, Taylor said.
Law enforcement officers continued to search the area through the day on Sunday looking for four more people unaccounted for and to collect evidence which led them to a neighbor, William Hudson. Carina said Hudson cut the lock and regained possession of the land without Thomas’ knowledge. Bond was set at $2.5 million.
“This is very obviously going to be a long, hard journey and we have a lot of work to do”, Evans said.
Previous information provided by Sheriff Taylor, along with details from the warrant, paint a portrait of Hudson as a seemingly friendly man before he turned on the blended family. William Hudson, who is charged in the killings of six people, including Hannah Johnson, Kade Johnson and Kamp, at a Texas campsite had earlier befriended the group and helped dislodge one of their vehicles from mud, a sheriff said Tuesday, November 17, 2015. It said he later returned to socialize and drink alcoholic beverages with them.
Thomas Kamp lived with Hannah Johnson and her son in the Dallas suburb of Midlothian.
“We had a nice celebration here on Friday night for [Nathan Kamp’s] birthday”, Steven Woodruff, Thomas Kamp’s uncle, told CBS19.