Officer-involved shooting in northwest Austin

The chase ended and the shooting began at the intersection of Mesa & Spicewood Springs.

It happened right in front of the driver of this light blue Jeep.

“It was frightening, yes. I can’t even describe it right now,” said the driver who declined to say more until speaking with police.

Aaron King was able to describe what he saw.

“About where the blue Jeep is now is where he had started firing,” said King.

King said he was coming to work Friday morning when a black sedan sped by up Mesa Dr. with police close behind. 

“When he went to make the right, the cruiser clipped him and he 180ed, back end of the car up in the air and landed with the driver side facing back towards MoPac and the guy hopped out of the car with the pistol and opened fire,” said King.

“As soon as he comes out he starts firing, firing, and the police fire back,” said Benjamin Ponce.

Ponce said he watched the gunfight in stunned disbelief.

“I think there was, he seemed calm but there was a bit of fear in it because he realized he had messed up,” said Ponce. 

The name of the gunman has not been release. Investigators say a gun was recovered at the scene.

“You could tell it was a semi-automatic pistol, it was Pop pop pop pop and then return fire,” said King.

King and Ponce said the intersection was quickly surrounded by police as the gunman tried to flee. 

“Then when he realizes he’s cornered, he turns and runs,” said Ponce.

The gunman moved toward a nearby convenience store.

“Using the car as a shield, was backing away from the car firing. And then turn and ran, and the turned back around and that’s when we saw him get hit,” said King. 

Video sent to FOX-7 Austin news shows first responders treating the man for his gunshot wounds. His injuries according to sources are not expected to be life threatening. No officers were injured and the two officers who shot the gunman have been placed on administrative duty; which is standard procedure.

All this began with an emergency call around 7:00 regarding a man with a gun at home about 10 minutes from the Spicewood Springs location. APD chief Brian Manley said that the man was having a violent encounter with his mother.

“The suspect knocked on the door and the mother answered the door, he produced a handgun pointed it at her, demanded her to get on her knees and then physically assaulted her,” said Chief Manley.

The Chief says the man left the house before police units arrived. He allegedly vandalized a car and was later spotted by police- which started the high speed chase.

“And having watched a good part of the dash cam video I can tell you that the suspect was driving, Aggressively, very dangerously, going through stop signs, driving on the wrong side of the road to pass vehicles, again this was a very dangerous situation,” said Manley.

The Chief said his officers have had previous encounters with the man. The chase and the shooting will now go through several different reviews.