AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Austin Mayor Steve Adler is calling for a "quick and complete assessment" of a deadly officer-involved shooting on the city's southeast side Friday evening.
Police responded to the 2600 block of South Pleasant Valley Road just after 6:30 p.m. Friday night, after a 911 caller reported people in a car doing drugs with one of the subjects with a gun in his hands. The caller also said the man was waving the gun in the air. After a standoff with police, the subject ignored officers' commands and was hit with a non-lethal beanbag shotgun, at which point he got back into his vehicle and attempted to drive away - before another officer opened fire, shooting the man.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Saturday evening that police believed the vehicle involved was connected to other crimes earlier in the week, including evading police.
A number of eyewitness videos have been posted to social media showing the interaction between the man and police.
Adler's complete statement:
I'm very disturbed by the spectator's video I've now seen on which Mike Ramos does not appear to threaten but ends up dead. There's got to be a better way. The use of force is the most most potent and irreversible of a police officer's tools and requires trust between officers and the communities they protect. We may not yet know all the facts and we need to before we pass final judgment, but we know what we see, people are hurting, and there are many questions. We must respond to this moment and also to the fear, anxiety and lack of confidence expressed by communities of color. I have told the Manager we need a quick and complete assessment of this shooting and then an immediate sharing of all relevant information with the community. This incident happens against the backdrop of investigations and assessments of the department that must also be full, transparent, concluded and reported.
Manley, likewise, has asked for anyone with information on the incident to call 512-974-8477.
