Amarillo Police Department investigating murder-suicide on NE 14th Ave

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The Amarillo Police Department is investigating an apparent murder-suicide after four people were found dead Saturday evening.

According to officials, Amarillo Police were dispatched to a residence in the 3600 block of NE 14th in reference to a 911 call from a family member. Police discovered four deceased individuals inside the home: two adults and two children.

Officials said during the investigation, Jose David Olmos, 42, had shot Jessica Rose Olmos, 33, and the two children, Daniel and Jazale Garcia. They had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Jose then turned the gun on himself.

The APD Homicide Unit is investigating the incident.

Before the incident on Saturday, Jose Olmos had pleaded guilty to Assault Causes Bodily Injury Family Violence for an incident in May, according to Randall County Court documents.

Documents said Olmos struck murder victim and his wife Jessica Olmos with his hand and was ordered not to have any contact with Jessica nor the two kids in their house and to take an alcohol education course.

Below are documents related to previous incidents involving Jose Olmos:

“Jessica had recently returned back to the home to reconcile the marriage to try to make it better and the children also lived in the home at the time,” said Lt. James Clements, Amarillo Police Department homicide unit commander.

MyHighPlains.com found documents showing Jose Olmos was convicted and sentenced to one year in 2001 for possession of marijuana and in 2008 was sentenced to 90 days for DWI, both of which were in Potter County.

Clements speaks on the protective order and restraining order.

“The restraining order is a piece of paper that tells you not to do certain things. You can not be around certain people or do certain things, but if the reporting party does not go by that or does not report that to law enforcement, there is nothing we can enforce on that. Now, if he comes across law enforcement and it is still an active restraining order/protective order, then yes, we can act upon that but if Jessica either didn’t want to act on that anymore or she decided she wanted to drop charges, or she didn’t want to persuade that anymore, that is her choice, that is on her on what she wants to do, we can’t enforce something were she doesn’t want us to enforce it,” said Clements.

Lt. Clements said the gun that was used did not belong to Jose Olmos, it actually belonged to Jessica and he was not supposed to have access to a gun.

“A lot of questions are asked, ‘Why don’t we enforce this, why?’ we have to go by certain laws to be able to, information that he has a gun or he is involved in law enforcement during this incident and he has guns in the home. People all over the United States have guns in their homes that are probably not supposed to have guns in their homes. Are we able to track all these people, no we can’t and it was unfortunate there was a gun in the home at the time of this incident, but the gun did belong to Jessica and it was just put in the wrong hands at that time,” said Clements.

Lt. Clements added the children belonged to Jessica and he said Jose had no relation to the children at all.

Director of Advocacy Services at Family Support Services Michelle Shields said Amarillo has had an up-and-down history for the past five to six years on lethality in domestic violence.

“We were ranked, I think it was five years ago, seven years ago as the highest lethality county in Texas and nationally ranked. It dropped a little bit and it has been increasing again. The most recent statistics that we have are from 2022, where there were seven fatalities in Potter and Randall County, and the report will be released at the end of this month for what it will be in 2023, but we are on trend for being one of the highest domestic violence counties in Texas,” said Shields.

Lt. Clements said they do not know what the triggering point was that caused the incident.

“I would like to say, for anybody that’s involved in that type of situation, before it gets that bad, to seek out help with somebody, look for help and understand that you are in a bad volatile situation that you should be looking for somebody for assistance or if you see somebody involved in that type of domestic violence situation or they are in danger, seek help for them and get them out of that situation,” said Clements.

Health and Help: Resources on the High Plains

• Crisis Hotline | 1-800-692-4039

• 24-Hour Hotline | 1-806-374-5433

• Suicide and Crisis Lifeline | 988

For the latest Amarillo news and regional updates, check with MyHighPlains.com and tune in to KAMR Local 4 News at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 p.m. and Fox 14 News at 9:00 p.m. CST.

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