Man dies in officer involved shooting in south Austin

AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - A man is dead following an officer-involved shooting in southeast Austin, Tuesday morning.

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said it began as a traffic stop on south I-35 Monday night about five-miles away from the shooting.

Tuesday evening, APD said after reviewing body camera footage the person did point a gun at the officers. He was believed to be a Hispanic male around 27-years-old.

“I honestly don't feel that safe walking around,” said Johanna, who lives nearby and wanted not to give out her last name.

She said she noticed a lot of commotion near her neighborhood early Tuesday morning.

“I was walking this (Tuesday) morning, noticed there was all this barricade situation going on here,” said Johanna.

Austin police reported the shots were fired near east William Cannon and McKinney Falls Parkway.

“What I can confirm is that our officers did fire, 2 officers, their weapons and I also can confirm we have located a weapon on the scene,” said Chief Manley.

According to police Chief Brian Manley, officers were at a traffic stop Monday evening about 5 miles away on I-35 when the vehicle they pulled over fled the scene. The officers chose not to follow and instead investigated who the owner was.

“The officers began conducting research on the vehicle license plate and attempt to identify the registered owners so we can conduct an investigation on who may have evaded,” said Manley.

After contacting the registered owner, police were told they received a text from their son saying he crashed off William Cannon.

“A patrol supervisor had located a vehicle that appeared to be involved in a crash in a field,” said Manley.

Turned out it was a different car than the one which fled the traffic stop. “The officer puts out the officer needs assistance stating the subject in the vehicle had a gun,” said Manley.

According to Manley, the person had a gun turned on himself. The officer on scene tried to talk him down while waiting for backup.

“There was a lot of work down to try and deescalate the situation but what is evident was in that final moment the individual gets up he was in a position on the ground gets us raises both hands in a manner as if he had a weapon in the hand and points in the directions of the officers at which point 2 officers fired their weapons,” said Manley.

The person shot by the officers was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

The nearby neighborhood, was shaken up.

“I have already decided the past 4 months that this was not going to be the place where I necessarily invest for myself or feel safe in as a single woman,” said Johanna.

The two officers involved are placed on administrative while the investigation is ongoing.