A Texas woman has allegedly shot and killed her neighbor after an altercation over a stolen bouncy house in Austin. According to the Austin Police Department, the shooting happened just after 8 a.m., with 52-year-old James Traylor dying of multiple gunshot wounds shortly after being transported to a local hospital. Nora Lee Lopez, 30, later turned herself in over the murder.
- Lopez accused Traylor of stealing her inflatable bouncy house. Witnesses told police that the two had been arguing over the alleged theft before Lopez pulled out a gun, shot Traylor multiple times, and left the scene. As one neighbor named Henry recalled to KXAN, “They sounded like, ‘bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,’ Like that.” It didn’t take long for police to issue a first-degree murder warrant.
- Children could have been hurt during the shooting. A separate neighbor who insisted on remaining anonymous said that children were present when Lopez pulled out the gun and they could have been injured or killed. “I don’t want them around gunshots, none of that,” the neighbor said. “I don’t want to see the world like this, I don’t want to see people keep dying. They’re doing things with guns that they can’t change. It’s going to live with them for the rest of their life.”
- No one was particularly surprised by the violence. Both neighbors admitted that while what happened was unfortunate, it wasn’t shocking. As Henry explained: “It’s a rough neighborhood.” Still, it’s left many in the area shaken.
- Traylor’s killing was the 77th homicide in Austin in 2021 alone. It follows a national trend that has seen a 30% increase in the last year, the highest since FBI tracking began back in the 1960s.
UPDATE: Nora Lee Lopez has turned herself in. Her booking photo will be released once it becomes available. https://t.co/f8OZvjLQic
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) November 5, 2021
