US officer posed as teen to catfish girl and drove cross-country to kill family

Virginia deputy Austin Edwards, 28, killed in California shootout after killing mother and grandparents and torching home - police

A Virginia sheriff's deputy posed as a 17-year-old boy online and asked a teenage California girl for nude photos before he drove across the country and killed her mother and grandparents and set fire to their home, authorities said on Wednesday.

Austin Lee Edwards, 28, was killed Friday in a shootout with San Bernardino sheriff's deputies. The 15-year-old girl from Riverside, California, was rescued and is in counseling for trauma, family members and police said at a news conference.