By John Miller, Chris Boyette, Cindy Von Quednow

(CNN) — The suspect in the killings of four relatives of a baby found abandoned last week has been arrested after a weeklong manhunt across rural Tennessee, according to police in Jackson.

Austin Robert Drummond, 28, was caught in a wooded area Tuesday morning after being spotted by residents, Jackson Police Chief Thom Corley said during a news conference Tuesday.

Authorities received multiple calls of sightings around 8:00 a.m. local time, allowing police to place more resources in that area. An additional citizen’s call at 8:57 a.m. led to Drummond’s arrest by three nearby officers at 9:05 a.m., Corley said.

“Today … we find some peace in knowing that the suspect is no longer a threat, but remain committed to the families, the community and to justice,” the chief said.

Prior to his capture, Drummond was staying in a vacant building, officials said without elaborating.

Authorities recovered “a couple of” firearms, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said, adding he could not say whether they were used in the killings.

The apprehension came after law enforcement told certain residents to shelter in place due to a sighting in the area Tuesday morning. Drummond also was recorded Sunday night by a resident’s camera system in Jackson, and a vehicle associated with him was found unoccupied in that city during the manhunt for him last week, according to authorities.

Drummond – a convicted felon with alleged ties to a violent street gang who was out on bail on an attempted murder charge relating to time he spent in prison – was wanted in connection with last month’s deaths of James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. Their bodies were found July 29 in Tiptonville, a town in northwest Tennessee’s Lake County, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.

The four were found hours after the baby daughter of Wilson and Adrianna Williams had been found abandoned in a car seat in a “random” front yard near the Dyer County community of Tigrett, nearly 40 miles southeast of Tiptonville and about 40 miles northwest of Jackson, authorities said.

The TBI hasn’t said what led it to name Drummond as a suspect, whether investigators know of a motive in the killings, or why the baby was abandoned a county away from where the bodies were found.

Rose was the baby’s maternal grandmother, and Braydon Williams was the baby’s maternal uncle, according to Danny Goodman, district attorney for Dyer and Lake counties. The baby girl – who authorities say is healthy and safe – is approximately 7 months old, Goodman said.

Drummond’s girlfriend is the sister of two of the victims and the daughter of another victim, Rausch said without elaborating.

Warrants were issued for Drummond charging him with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, the TBI said.

During the manhunt for Drummond, authorities arrested three people from Friday to Monday accused of helping him after the killings, the TBI said.

Investigators believe Drummond has connections to the Vice Lords gang and they suspect he may gotten help from its members while on the run, a law enforcement source said Monday, without saying whether the three accused of helping him had connections to the gang.

Baby found abandoned hours before bodies discovered

The manhunt began after the baby was found in a car seat in a front yard near Tigrett on July 29, the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators, spurred by a 911 caller who saw the child, were checking reports that a “dark-colored minivan or a white mid-size SUV” had left the baby there, the sheriff’s office said; the heat index was 116 degrees.

Hours after the baby’s abandonment, the sheriff’s office announced four people – later identified as the baby’s relatives – were found dead in Tiptonville.

The bodies were found along Tiptonville’s Carrington Road, the TBI said without elaborating.

When contacted by CNN with questions about the investigation, the TBI referred only to its news releases. The releases do not detail how the four were killed, how they were found, whether investigators know of a motive, or who may have left the baby in the yard near Tigrett.

Drummond served prison time and was out on bail on attempted murder charge

Even before the four victims were discovered in Tiptonville, Drummond had a criminal history, had just gotten out of prison last year, and at the time of last month’s killings was out on bail after being charged with trying to kill someone while he was incarcerated, authorities have said.

Drummond’s criminal history dates to July 2013, when authorities said the then-16-year-old robbed a Circle K convenience store in Jackson just after midnight. Drummond pulled out a pistol, pointed it at a store employee and demanded the money in the cash register, according to court documents.

He was convicted in 2014 of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 10 years in prison, records show.

After the trial, an incarcerated Drummond called his father and made threats against the jurors and the robbery victim, District Attorney Jody S. Pickens, who serves an area including Jackson, told CNN on Monday. For that, Drummond in 2015 pleaded guilty to several counts of retaliation for past action and was sentenced to a further three years in prison, making a combined 13 years, according to Pickens and court records.

CNN has sought comment from an attorney who represented him at the time.

When Drummond was scheduled for a parole hearing in July 2020, Pickens’ office sent a letter to the Tennessee Board of Parole saying it strongly opposed parole, calling Drummond a “dangerous felony offender.”

According to that letter, the statements Drummond made about the jurors and the robbery victim from jail years earlier were: “They are going to regret it” and “I’ll be out one day.” Pickens also wrote that Drummond, as of July 2020, had 25 disciplinary actions against him, including “refusing orders, drug possession, defiance, and being in possession of a deadly weapon.”

“This type of behavior clearly demonstrates that Drummond has no desire for rehabilitation and is not capable of living among society,” Pickens wrote. “Due to the seriousness of the crimes he committed, his violent behavior towards the victims in these cases and to protect society from his criminal behavior, we feel that he should remain in prison and serve his sentence in full.”

The letter also says Drummond was a confirmed member of the Vice Lords gang, a group whose members have been involved in murder, drug trafficking and other violent crimes, according to the US Justice Department. Prosecutors say the gang has members and offshoot groups in Illinois and throughout Tennessee.

Drummond would never receive parole, and he was released from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville in September 2024, having served just under 11 years counting pretrial time served and credits from the Tennessee Department of Correction, according to Pickens and court records.

Yet a Lake County grand jury indicted him on charges relating to his time in prison – first drug charges, then attempted murder, Goodman said in a news conference Friday. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office arrested Drummond on the drug charges September 1 – the day he was released from prison – and the attempted murder charge later that year, according to records released by the TBI,

“He made bond,” and he was “out on bond on those charges” when the four bodies were found last week in Tiptonville, Goodman said Friday.

Goodman didn’t provide details about the attempted murder charge, except to say the alleged incident “took place inside the prison.” CNN has asked Goodman for further details.

Drummond’s attorney in the attempted murder case, Drew Farmer, declined to comment on details in that case and would not say whether he was representing Drummond in the charges related to last week’s killings.

“I saw the news when everyone else did,” Farmer said Tuesday of Drummond’s capture. “I wouldn’t comment further without Austin’s permission other than to say I’m relieved there hasn’t been any more loss of life.”

This story was updated with additional details.

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