Dallas Shooting Suspect Pretended to Be Victim, Cops Say

Male cheerleader arrested in two-city shooting spree.

ByABC News
August 8, 2013, 9:15 AM

Aug. 8, 2013— -- A male cheerleader is accused of killing a former girlfriend and his estranged wife as well as two other people in a two-city rampage that included detonating an explosive device, police said today.

Four children were wounded in the attacks.

Erbie Bowser, 44, was arrested Wednesday night in DeSoto, Texas. He is accused of shootings in DeSoto and Dallas.

Bowser allegedly began his spree of terror in the Dallas home of his former girlfriend Toya Smith, 43. Police were called to the home at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. There they found Smith dead, along with her daughter Tasmia Allen, 17, according to her family.

Smith's 14-year-old son Storm Malone was shot, but survived his injuries was and taken to a nearby hospital, according to police and relatives. Also wounded was a 17-year-old family friend who has not been publicly identified.

Dallas police alerted cops in DeSoto, 10 miles to the south, that they believed Bowser was on his way to that town. As DeSoto police made their way to the home of Bowser's estranged wife, they received a 911 call of a incident there.

DeSoto police said Bowser detonated an explosive device inside the home. Family members have confirmed the woman's identity as Zina Teal Bowser, according to local media.

Police said they could not confirm the cause of the explosion or the type of device used until an ongoing investigation by the FBI and ATF is completed.

ABC News affiliate WFAA-TV, citing police sources, reports the device was a hand grenade.

Bowser is also accused of killing an adult female friend of his wife, who was in the home. He shot and injured two boys aged 11 and 13 who were taken to a hospital. Their condition is unknown.

When police arrived they found Bowser pretending to be among the wounded, according to WFAA.

Bowser is a former school teacher and member of the Dallas Mavericks ManiAAcs, a dance troupe comprised of overweight men who perform at basketball games.

According to a cached version of the troupe's website, he is 6-foot-7 and weighs almost 400 pounds.

U.S. Army records indicate Bowser served from October 1991 to November 2000, and earned the rank of staff sergeant.