AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A man who police say was armed with a knife was shot by officers in southeast Austin Thursday afternoon.
Austin Police Chief of Staff Troy Gay said the incident took place in the 2100 block of South U.S. Highway 183, near East Riverside Drive, and began just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
A 911 caller at 4:35 p.m. reported a pedestrian on the highway, Gay said. One officer arrived on scene about two minutes later, coming from a work assignment in an unmarked car equipped with lights and sirens. That officer was wearing a polo shirt and a badge, but no body-worn camera. He placed his vehicle in the middle of the roadway in an attempt to block traffic.
Gay said two other officers arrived on scene about three minutes later, in standard uniform and a regular marked police vehicle. They found the suspect aggressively approaching the first officer, who was backing up and giving the suspect commands to drop his knife.
"They attempted to get the suspect out of the roadway, I can tell you that the suspect came toward the officer, he continued to de-escalate, he moved back about—up to 10 to 15 feet in order to try to de-escalate to get the suspect to stop his aggressive behavior," Gay said.
As the suspect continued to advance towards officers, two of the officers opened fire. Gay said between two and five shots were fired.
The suspect was down on the ground, but remained conscious and moving around, still refusing to drop the knife. That's when a third officer fired his Taser at the suspect, and then began to render first aid.
The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition.
Gay said the three officers involved will be placed on administrative leave. The two officers who fired shots are both 11-year veterans of the department; the officer who fired the taser has been with APD for 17 years. None of the officers were injured in the incident, Gay said.
Video from the incident is expected to be released within 10 days, according to APD's new critical incident video release policy.