Warrant: Suspect Drank with Campsite Victims, then Shot Them

PALESTINE (AP/Staff) – The lone survivor of an attack that left six dead at an East Texas campsite has told authorities that the suspect had drinks with the blended family before suddenly producing a gun and firing on them. An arrest warrant provided Wednesday by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office reveals that 33-year-old William Hudson (pictured) was drinking with the group Saturday when he accompanied four of them into surrounding woods. The warrant says Cynthia Johnson told sheriff’s deputies that she heard gunshots before Hudson returned alone to the campsite and chased her husband and daughter into a travel camper, where he shot them. Johnson ran into the woods and eventually made a 911 call. Hudson is being held on $2.5 million bond. It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether he has an attorney.

Meanwhile, A Maine community is in mourning over the deaths of two former residents who were among the six killed. Cynthis Johnson’s husband, Carl Johnson, was killed along with his daughter, Hannah Johnson. The University of Maine at Farmington says the parents retired from UMF in 1999 to pursue their passion for travel. Their daughter graduated from Mount Blue High School in Farmington and held a degree from the University of Maine. Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis tells the Sun Journal that it’s a “devastating tragedy.” The victims were killed on wooded land owned by Thomas Kamp, Hannah’s boyfriend. He was killed along with his older children and Hannah’s 6-year-old son.