Another Texas teacher has found themselves behind bars.
James Paul Anderson, 37, was taken into custody by Houston police Sunday night after allegedly shooting and killing his wife during a heated argument, according to Fox 26 Houston.
Victoria Lynn Anderson, 34, had called 911 for help when the fighting escalated. She told the dispatcher that her husband was threatening to shoot her, according to a statement from Houston police. Although officers were sent to the location, they did not arrive in time.
“The call-taker reported hearing a gunshot while on the phone with the woman,” Houston police said.
The suspect blockaded himself inside his home in the 4300 block of Vista Ridge Drive. While he eventually allowed his 3-year-old son — who was unharmed during the incident but covered in blood — to leave the premises, it took a police hostage negotiation team five hours to convince him to surrender. SWAT had also been deployed to the scene.
Anderson is now being held at Harris County jail on a $300,000 bond.
Before his arrest, Anderson had served as chair of the special education department at Santa Fe Middle School in Cleveland ISD. He had been certified as a Texas educator in February of this year and had been with the district since 2022. He is now on administrative leave.
Stephany Abner, a prosecutor assigned to Anderson’s case, told the Houston Chronicle that the defendant had called 911 a week before the fatal shooting, saying that his wife had locked his guns in a safe.
While the couple appeared to have a history of marital issues, Anderson had no prior criminal record.
A number of Texas educators have ended up in hot water with the law this past year.
Most of the allegations have involved sexual misconduct. For instance, Anthony Hawkins, 25, who worked at Arlington ISD as a long-term substitute teacher, was arrested in late August for allegedly having inappropriate relationships with three teenage students, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Earlier this year, Dallas ISD, the second-largest school system in Texas, saw three of its employees arrested for alleged assault offenses committed against minors. Two of the offenses were allegedly sexual in nature.
