One arrested after multiple murders

A 911 call sent Liberty County Deputies to a reported multiple shooting scene on CR 4901 in south Liberty County at approximately 11:55 a.m. today. As both Sheriff’s Deputies and Dayton Police Officers approached the scene, a male individual spotted law enforcement approaching and immediately fell to the ground and surrendered. He was quickly identified as 60-year-old Michael Wettstein who lives on CR 4901 and the person responsible for the shooting death of three people and the wounding of two others. He was immediately taken into custody and transported to the Liberty County jail without incident. He will be charged later today with three counts of capital murder as well as other charges as the investigation continues.

Although the investigation is in its early stages, sheriff’s lead Investigator Mark Ellington said the initial investigation indicates that Wettstein shot and killed two people in one house on CR 4901 then progressed to a second house on the same street shooting and killing another person and then going near the end of the same street shooting and wounding 66-year-old Marvin Rumley in the head and his 32-year-old daughter, Amenda Rumley, in the throat. Both father and daughter were air-lifted to a Houston hospital by Life Flight Air Ambulance in unknown condition.

As the investigation continues, authorities are attempting to determine the motive for the shootings where both a shotgun and a rifle was used and recovered. At the present time Investigators are trying to determine what, if any, relationship existed between Wettstein and any or all of the shooting victims. The crime scene is quite extensive as it involves three homes and a wooded area where one of the murder weapons was found. Therefore, it is expected Investigators will be on the scene for several hours interviewing people in the area and processing the various scenes for physical evidence.

Names of the deceased are not being confirmed by investigators at this time until complete identification can be made and next of kin notified.

Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Judge Larry Wilburn conducted the inquest and ordered an autopsy of all the deceased individuals as the investigation continues by Investigator Ellington into the late evening.