Austin motel shooting: Teen arrested and 2 people injured
Austin motel shooting leaves 2 people injured
The Austin Police Department has arrested a 19-year-old suspect after two people were shot at a South Austin motel.
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department has arrested a 19-year-old suspect after two people were shot at a South Austin motel.
The backstory:
APD says the incident happened at around 11:20 p.m. at the Super 8 Motel located at 4200 S. I-35 Service Road southbound.
Officers responded to a call about reported shots fired and when they arrived they found two victims with apparent gunshot wounds.
Life-saving measures were administered, and the two victims were transported to a local hospital.
APD says one victim is in critical condition and the other has non-life-threatening injuries.
Dig deeper:
Elijah Jorge Zuniga
Officers searched the area initially, but did not locate a suspect.
A separate 911 call later reported shots fired near the 1100 block of W. Live Oak Street. Multiple patrol officers and Air Support responded to the scene.
The suspect, identified as Elijah Jorge Zuniga, was located, arrested, and booked into the Travis County Jail. He is charged with two Aggravated Assault Reckless Discharge of a Firearm from a Motor Vehicle, one Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and one charge of Evading with a Motor Vehicle.
Jail records show Zuniga also has two out-of-county warrants.
Court records show he has a charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon from 2025. He had agreed to be in a Youth Justice Program.
Shooting at South Austin motel
Austin police are looking for a gunman after two people were shot at a Super 8 Motel on the south I-35 frontage road.
Local perspective:
Peter Merrell, from Conroe, says he was staying at the motel where the shooting happened.
"I heard multiple boom, boom and clack, clack, clack," he said. "I left outside and flew immediately into my room and hit the bathtub because that's how close it was."
He says he saw what appeared to be the suspect's vehicle erratically driving off. He said he called 911 and tried to help the victims. The whole case was not what he wanted to see during his visit to Austin.
"Me being a traveler to Austin, it's the first time I've ever been here. I have never, in my life, seen people shot in a hotel parking lot," he said.
The Source: Information from Austin Police Department and from an interview conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen