Teenager dead following downtown Austin 'gun battle'
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department (APD) is investigating what Chief Joseph Chacon refers to as a "gun battle" between two "groups of males" that led to an officer firing his weapon Saturday morning in downtown Austin.
In a press conference Saturday morning, Chacon says officers were investigating an unrelated DWI at 5th and Sabine a little after 1 a.m. when they heard gunshots. The officers ran toward males who were firing weapons at eachother.
Chief Chacon says an officer fired his weapon and it's not clear if anyone was struck by the officer's weapon.
The officers eventually caught up with the men and managed to detain two of them. Officers found a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound who was transported in critical condition to a nearby hospital, according to Chacon. APD says the teenager has since died.
Chief Chacon says much of this was caught on body cam video and witnesses filled in some of the details.
"This appeared to be a dispute and ultimately a gun battle between two different groups of individuals and multiple weapons were observed," Chacon said. "The two groups fired at each other which is why I say that it's unknown right now whether the officers struck someone or that individual was struck by someone else's gunfire."
Chacon says all of this is preliminary information. The officer who fired his weapon is a four-year Austin Police veteran and will be placed on administrative duty, per department protocol while the shooting is investigated on multiple levels.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to call 911 or the Crimestoppers Tipline at 512-472-8477.
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