AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Authorities are investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting in downtown Austin late Sunday night.
According to Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon, a 911 call reported a man brandishing a gun near 5th Street and Guadalupe around 11:33 p.m. Sunday night.
One minute later, at 11:34 p.m., another 911 caller reported multiple gunshots from the 600 block of West 6th Street.
When officers arrived on the scene, about a minute later, they were directed towards one shooting victim with non life threatening injuries. That victim was later transported to a nearby hospital by EMS.
Police began to search the area for the man who fired the shots; officers on a utility vehicle found a man matching the suspect's description around 11:43 p.m. Officers ordered the man to drop his weapon; at that point, the man ran away, prompting the officers to give chase.
Officers gave multiple commands to the suspect to drop his weapon. A short time into the foot pursuit, three APD officers opened fire on the suspect, who went down immediately.
Chacon said officers began to give the suspect medical attention, and he was transported to a nearby hospital. He was later pronounced deceased at 12:30 a.m. Monday morning.
"This is a horrible and tragic incident that happened for all parties involved in this," Chacon said in an early morning press conference. "And it’s yet another tragic instance of gun violence in our city. This incident is really emblematic of the problem that we are seeing with guns that are being used that are appearing in disturbances not just here in the downtown area but all over the city. And that our officers have to deal with on a daily basis as they respond to these calls that are coming into 911.”
The three officers who fired their weapons will be placed on administrative duty, pending the outcome of two concurrent investigations by the department and the Travis County District Attorney's Office.
“During all of these events, I think this is important to stress, that this is the downtown entertainment district, there were people everywhere. Many on foot, vehicles in the area as well. And generally this was a very, very active area of town despite the late hour,” Chacon said.
