3 injured, suspect dead in shooting on Austin’s crowded downtown 6th Street

Three people were wounded, one critically, and the suspect is dead after a shooting involving police on the crowded 6th Street in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night, police said.

Austin police said the officers called to the scene discharged their weapons, and the suspected gunman was struck by the officers’ gunfire and later pronounced dead. No officers were injured. It was unclear whether the other three people were shot by the suspect or police.

Police responded to the incident at a downtown bar shortly before midnight. They had received a report that someone was trying to enter the establishment with a gun, in violation of a section of the Texas Penal Code related to unlawfully carrying weapons, said Austin Police Department Interim Chief Robin Henderson at a news briefing early Sunday morning. At the time, Henderson told reporters that any information they could share about the timeline of the shooting and what happened was preliminary and could change because their investigation was still in such early stages. 

An employee at the bar identified the suspect when officers arrived at the scene, and they approached him, Henderson said. At that point, the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it in the direction of the responding officers as well as bystanders. When he did, three officers fired their weapons at the suspect, who was hit multiple times and eventually pronounced dead. 

Three other people were shot and wounded in the incident, all of whom were hospitalized, according to the interim police chief. One of them suffered critical injuries, Henderson said, while the others’ injuries were not considered life-threatening. 

The officers who discharged their weapons have been placed on administrative duty while the Austin Police Department conducts an internal administrative investigation into the shooting, as well as a criminal investigation in coordination with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. The officers have worked at the police department for nine, 11 and 13 years, the interim chief said, and the weapons they used were approved by the department. The shooting was recorded on officers’ body-worn cameras, and the department will release the footage within 10 business days, in keeping with its policies for officer-involved shootings.

Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to report what they know to the Austin Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, or to Capitol Area Crime Stoppers.