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Texas Campsite Attack Leaves Six Dead: One Man In Custody For Brutal Killings

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 14:28 PST, Nov 16, 2015

Over the course of the weekend, a campsite in the community of Anderson County, Texas, became the scene of several bloody murders as one Texas man is reported to have killed six people. The homicides occurred Sunday morning at a campsite between Harmony and Tennessee Colony. The Anderson County Sheriff’s office reported that they took the suspect into custody without incident on Sunday evening. According to the Sheriff, the killings yielded the highest body count that he has ever seen.

The early morning hours of November 5 were disturbed as shots rang out between 4 to 5 a.m. in what was once a vacant campsite between the area of Harmony and Tennessee Colony. Two hours later, at approximately 7:02 a.m., a female contacted the sheriff’s office with claims that she had been a victim of those early morning gun shots, but had thankfully escaped with her life. An immediate investigation led the officers to a travel trailer at the reported site and there they discovered the bodies of two more victims – unfortunately the male and female inside had succumbed to their gunshot wounds. Investigations into the identities of the homicide victims at the campsite revealed that they were members of two separate families who were visiting the newly bought land. According to CBS News the trailer belonged to one of the murder victims found inside. The land, located about 170 miles north-east of Austin, near Palestine, had been purchased to be used for camping and hunting.

Sheriff Greg Taylor says they were filled with despair when investigations led by the The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ASCO) in tandem with Anderson County District Attorney’s office, Texas Rangers and Palestine Police detectives changed the initial body count. Early Monday afternoon, the officers located the bodies of four more victims in a nearby pond. They were initially thought of as missing from the campsite. All four of these deceased were male. The police have not released the ages of the victims of the killing spree that left six dead, but one of the males in the second batch of discovered victims was a child.

The suspect in custody, 33-year-old William Mitchell Hudson owned property next door to where the trailer with the two bodies were found and the pond where the remaining four bodies were is actually behind his house. On Sunday, he was located at Thus far there has been no motive identified for the killings and Hudson has no personal relation with any of the victims. He has been charged with one count of murder and is currently being held on a $2.5 million dollar bond. Hudson has a previous arrest for assault charges on his record. The ACSO has stated that the gruesome murders is the largest homicide case in the history of Anderson County. It is expected that there will be additional charges filed against the murder suspect for the six killed at the campsite.

The injured female who escaped with her life and called in the killings is the only survivor. According to the sheriff, she was found on the side of the road prior to the 911 call. She is related to some of the deceased and after spending Sunday with the Anderson County Women’s Crisis Center on Monday, she was interviewed by the Anderson County District Attorney. She has since been released to family.

The police have not released the names or ages of the victims. However, USA Today reported that a family member has identified three of the six killed as Hannah Johnson, Carl Johnson, and Thomas Kamp, who owned the property where the families were staying.

The investigation into the Texas campsite killings is still ongoing.

[Photo Courtesy of LukaTDB/ Shutterstock]

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