AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Four Austin Police officers and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper were part of an officer-involved shooting Wednesday night, after a felony warrant suspect opened fire at the trooper.
The shooting happened just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening at a convenience store located at the corner of A.W. Grimes Boulevard and State Highway 45 in Round Rock.
Austin Police chief Joseph Chacon said his officers were assisting DPS with a warrant service; APD had been asked by DPS to provide surveillance resources. Chacon said those efforts began shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon in an area close to where the shooting happened.
After some time, Chacon said, the suspect and his vehicle were seen attempting to leave an apartment complex. DPS troopers attempted to deflate the vehicle's tires and disable it, but the suspect continued to flee the scene on flat tires. APD officers continued to follow the suspect from a distance, until a wheel fell off and forced the suspect to pull into the convenience store parking lot.
Chacon said the APD officers continued to surveil the suspect from a distance. A marked DPS unit arrived roughly two minutes later; while the DPS trooper was exiting his vehicle, the suspect opened fire from inside his own vehicle. The APD officers exited their vehicle, and along with the trooper, returned fire, striking the suspect.
The suspect was taken into custody and given lifesaving measures; he was later transported to a nearby hospital, where he remained in critical condition.
Chacon said the suspect is a 41-year old Black male, with multiple outstanding felony warrants including weapons charges.
None of the officers sustained any injuries in the incident.
Chacon said the four APD officers will be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, which is the department's standard policy for any critical incident. One of the officers has been with APD for two years, two of the officers have served for six years, and the fourth has been with APD for ten years.
Because the incident happened in Williamson County and the officers were assisting DPS, Chacon said, video from the incident will not be released under APD's usual policy of releasing critical incident video within 10 business days. Chacon said the department will release the video at a later date, with approval of the Williamson County District Attorney's office as it conducts a criminal investigation.
Chacon said the incident was captured on multiple body-worn cameras, along with footage from the department's Air 1 helicopter, which was assisting in the surveillance effort.