Austin Police investigate SWAT standoff

Austin Police are investigating how a man died during a SWAT standoff in East Austin.

On Saturday night around 10 p.m., Austin police and SWAT were called to a home on the 1100 block of Ebert Drive, east of Springdale Road. Mark Martinez a resident said he was just getting home with his family when the situation unfolded “We’ve seen all sorts of crime in this neighborhood but this was one of the craziest things that we’ve seen,” said Martinez.

Martinez lives only two houses down from the home that police said a suspect had barricaded himself in. “It was very scary. You know a bullet doesn’t have a name and I have my kid’s room right here towards the end of the house closer to their house,” said Martinez. “At some point we saw the snippers setting up and then after a while police just started shooting up the house.”

Police evacuated several homes in the area including Saundra Preston’s, who lives just feet from the home the suspect had barricaded himself in. “Cause they evacuated us to the bus stop and a bus came we sat in there. But the bomb squad was here full SWAT team here,” said Preston.

She said the suspect had been living in a sober halfway home for some time.

But said she didn’t know the man personally except for some brief encounters.

Martinez said earlier in the day he noticed something wasn’t right when he saw the suspect driving. “He was driving up and down, driving real crazy and erratically. I stepped out to the street and saw him go into the house. But he looked crazy,” said Martinez.

The standoff lasted until Sunday morning.

Police said it’s unclear how the man died and are still investigating.