Welcome to Abilene, Where Crime Ran Rampant Monday

ABILENE, TX— On Tuesday, Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge addressed citizens via KTXS about multiple crime incidents that happened the day prior.

Monday night, police in Abilene were dispatched to Hendrick Medical Center for a shooting victim. Standridge told KTXS in the press conference that the 18-year-old female victim was shot three times in her car. Abilene Police discovered more bullet holes in the car. The victim then drove to a residence before being transported to the hospital by a friend. Standridge would go on to say that the active investigation is in the early stages and is still developing.

Forty-five minutes later, police were dispatched to a Royal Inn for an injured subject, according to Standridge. Police discovered a 47-year-old victim "bleeding profusely" from the head. The male victim was reportedly hit in the head multiple times with an axe. "The injuries were so significant that he had a hard time providing coherent sentences," Standridge said in the press conference. The suspect then called in from the room where the altercation took place and police were able to arrest the suspect who is now being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon/ family violence. The two males involved were roommates at the Royal Inn. The suspect charged in the case is 56-year-old TJ Williams.

 Then, at 1:17 a.m. Tuesday morning, police were dispatched to a scene where a train struck a pedestrian. The train conductor reported the incident, according to Standridge. "Initially, [officers] were unsuccessful in finding the pedestrian," Standridge told the media. "So they basically started 200 miles east of the Winters Freeway and they walked along the railroad tracks to about 100 miles west from Winters." Standridge would then reveal that was when police found a male sitting under a tree. The male was in obvious pain, as Standridge put it, so he was transported to the hospital with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Earlier in the day, police re-arrested Howard Taylor Collier on suspicion of sex trafficking. It is believed that Collier was paying minors for sexual favors, according to a report on KTXS. Collier had been arrested on Dec. 7 for sexual assault of a child and inducing or authorizing the sexual performance of a child. He was out on bond when police arrested him on Tuesday. According to Chief Standridge, this investigation is still in it's early stages, despite the department spending "literally hundreds of hours" on the investigation.