Austin police officer injured in Zilker Park shooting; suspect in custody

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department says it has a person in custody believed to be the suspect in connection to an officer-involved shooting in Zilker Park.

What we know:

The shooting happened in the 700 block of Azie Morton Road in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Sept. 10.

APD says one officer is injured, and another person is also hurt.

The officer was sent to the hospital where they underwent surgery and is now in recovery. The officer is reportedly in stable condition.

Police say they have a person in custody believed to be the suspect.

An active search had been conducted in the area of Zilker Park and a shelter-in-place was issued for some time.

Chief Davis gives preliminary details on shooting

Timeline:

Austin police held a news conference to discuss the incident.

APD Chief Lisa Davis spoke to the media, offering preliminary information about the shooting.

She says that a group of officers were enforcing the park curfew in Zilker Park and came up on a car that had been reported stolen and called for a tow. 

One officer remained on scene while the others left to look for other curfew violators. When the tow company arrived, the remaining officer helped out and saw two people emerging from the tree line nearby, a woman with a man behind her by about five or six feet, says Davis.

The officer issued commands to the pair, and saw the man appearing to be hiding something in his hands. The officer issued commands to the man to show his hands, and the man lifted the gun, shot the woman in the back of the head and fired at the officer too.

The officer returned fire, and it is currently unknown if the officer's bullets struck the suspect, as the man disappeared into the brush based on the officer's body-worn camera footage.

Other officers returned to the scene and one transported the injured officer to the hospital while others stayed with the woman and called ATCEMS. Davis says they do not foresee a positive outcome for her, but that no pronouncement has been made as of Wednesday morning.

The suspect fled the scene, prompting a "huge hunt" for him involving SWAT, K-9 units and Air-1.

Police later received a 911 call about a suspicious person from an Austin ISD police sergeant, who reported trying to approach him, but he took off running. APD officers ran after him and followed him into the Barton Hills subdivision where he tried to enter a home, but was shot in the arm and leg by the homeowner.

The suspect is in stable condition, says Davis.

A shelter in place was in effect for about 15 minutes and was changed to an "avoid the area" warning, something that Chief Davis says never should have happened, and she will be investigating.

The homeowner, who was in the building during the press conference, reportedly told Davis herself that the shelter in place saved his and his family's lives because he was able to prepare.

Davis ended her briefing by encouraging people to sign up for Warn Central Texas.

Neighbors react

"I see all these people running and just these cop cars just come -- I mean I've never seen a cop car go down that fast before Wilke [Drive]. That is a steep hill right there," Ames Alejandro said. "It was really insane. Then I see a helicopter coming out, and I'm like, 'what's happening,' you know? Like, this is crazy."

Students and parents at the surrounding schools had conflicting information about whether people should shelter-in-place.

"That was really confusing because I go to Austin High, and I know that they were in shelter also, and we had a two-hour delay," he said.

Linda Stafford has four grandchildren who go to Barton Hills Elementary School. She says some kids were in the school and some weren't because it wasn't clear if there was still a lockdown. 

"It just got kind of more and more terrifying, knowing that the guy was out loose," she said. "I just talked to my daughter-in-law, and she said they didn't know what was going on. My son dropped off my grandson, so he's at the school. I think they were all in the cafeteria. I don't know. It was confusing." 

"My husband actually saw, along with another dad, saw the suspect within a block of the school as we were approaching," said Michelle Smith, a Barton Hills Elementary School parent. "I would love to know what happened between the police department and the school district in terms of their communication failure and then what's gonna be done about it to fix it in the future." 

Sara Farabee's son goes to day school at the nearby Episcopal Church. She got a notification from the church that school was delayed. 

"We held on to the shelter-in-place and just waited for the notification that he could go to school," she said. "We locked all the doors and, I mean, there was a helicopter, like right above our house."

While some students did end up going to school, others chose not to. 

"I'm staying home right now and that was just a truly awful experience to see," Alejandro said.

What you can do:

Police are asking for the community's help with gathering information regarding the shooting. 

If you have any videos, photos, or information, you can share them here.

If you do not have video or photos, but you have detailed information about what you saw, you can contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

What they're saying:

Statement from the Austin Police Association:

"Early this morning, an Austin police officer was shot in the line of duty. Even after being shot, our officer bravely continued fighting by returning fire to try and stop the suspect. The officer is expected to recover after being transported to the hospital. Unfortunately a civilian was also shot by the suspect who is in critical condition.

This incident is a stark reminder of the dangers our officers face each day, yet their dedication to serving and protecting our beloved City never wavers.

I also want to thank the homeowner who was prepared and bravely intervened when he encountered the suspect as officers were searching for him. This was an extremely dynamic incident that demanded a large scale police response, and every APD officer stepped up to stop this criminal’s violence and capture him. I’m incredibly proud of our officers for their relentless work! 

We ask our community to keep the injured officer, their family, and all of Austin’s officers in your thoughts and prayers."

Statement from Austin ISD:

"Dear Zilker Community,

We understand that this was a stressful and unusual start to the day, and we appreciate your flexibility and cooperation. We apologize for any confusion as we worked to make the best decisions for our campus communities with the information we had regarding the police activity in the area.

During any critical incident, we work directly with our local agencies, including the Austin Police Department and determine how our internal operations may be impacted by activities near our schools. In this instance, we received an all clear from the Austin Police Department’s Warn Central Texas alerts for the shelter in place at 6:30 a.m. and based on that information, decided to continue our school day as normal.

However, around 7 a.m., we learned the message was sent by error and the
shelter-in-place was still in effect. At this point, students were already on buses on the way to campuses and doors opened at 7:15 a.m. To keep students safe, we escorted students to their classrooms where they remained in a Secure until receiving further guidance from the police. During a Secure, all activities continue inside, but no one may leave or enter school buildings.

Our campus remained in a Secure for approximately 80 minutes and returned to normal operations at 8:40 a.m. Austin ISD Police provided additional onsite support and presence until 10 a.m.

All tardies will be excused.

Ms. Vreeland along with the entire administration team has checked on all classrooms and provided support as needed. We will have counselors available to support students who may need to process this incident. We are also providing this resource for families who would like support navigating conversations with their children.

Please be assured that our teams will complete an in-depth debrief of this incident and work with our local partners to ensure we can learn from this and improve operations in the future.

Please don't hesitate to contact me at aj.pitts@austinisd.org if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support for the safety and security of our students, staff and school."