Austin Police Kill Armed Suspect After Responding To Domestic Disturbance [VIDEO]

AUSTIN, TX -- A man shot by police at a North Austin apartment early Monday morning has died, police confirmed.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo staged a news conference later Monday saying the man was warned several times to drop his weapon when they responded to the scene at 8:45 a.m. The suspect failed to comply, prompting police to initially fire non-lethal rounds at him ("bean bag"-style rounds) followed by lethal rounds.

The man died later at the hospital as a result of the shooting.

The incident began as a domestic disturbance call at the San Paloma Apartments on Tech Ridge Boulevard. Officers were warned ahead of time the man had a knife, but upon arrival they found him with a high-powered rifle, Acevedo said at the press conference.

Acevedo acknowledged the man did not fire his rifle during the confrontation with police. But he did say the suspect lifted his rifle in pointing it at officers, who still restrained from taking lethal action.

“The officers gave several verbal commands the subject did not comply with,” the chief said. “They did everything we as a community, we as a police department expect in terms of trying to end this peacefully. But when you have all these innocent folks here, unfortunately it did not turn out the way we wanted it to.”

The names of the two officers who fired at the suspect have not been released. Acevedo said one of the officers is a 27-year law enforcement veteran and the other has eight years' experience. Per protocol after officer-involved shootings, they will likely be placed on administrative desk duty as the investigation is conducted, the chief said.

But based on the preliminary information at hand, Acevedo said he believes the officers acted professionally in dealing with the rifle-toting suspect.

"One of the things we always tell our officers if we have somebody armed -- especially with that type of weapon in this type of environment, that is a target-rich environment -- we have to get resources quickly, we have to contain the suspect quickly and we have to make sure we do everything we can to safeguard the lives of our residents back here just minding their business in their apartment complex trying to go on with their day and their holiday here on Labor Day.

"Based on what I've seen so far, the officers conducted themselves in a manner that is consistent with their training."

Asked how the officer are coping, Acevedo said: "I can tell you, they're very shaken up."

After the non-lethal rounds had no effect in neutralizing the suspect, the lethal rounds were fired, the chief explained. Officers on the scene treated the fallen suspect before emergency crews arrived, the chief said, applying tourniquets until EMS crews made the scene.

But efforts to save him were futile, as the man died later in the hospital. The name of the suspect also wasn't released.

This is a developing story, and Patch will provide further details as they are made available.

Watch Acevedo's press briefing below:

The trauma of the incident -- the latest one in a recent string of recent police-involved shootings -- comes one day after the rank-and-file are mourning the loss of one of their own. On Sunday, Officer Amir Abdul-Khaliq lost his struggle to survive after having been hit by a car while leading a funeral procession last week.

As for Monday's incident, it was the latest officer-involved shooting this year in what has become almost routine in Austin:

• In February, now-fired officer Geoffrey Freeman shot dead a black teenager who was running his North Austin neighborhood naked in the throes of some sort of mental distress. David Joseph was 17 years old, and was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
• In April, there were two more officer-involved shootings in close succession: One involving a man believed to be breaking into vehicles that resulted in the officer being shot and an incident after a SWAT response to reports of an 18-year-old selling drugs out of his home that resulted in an officer being shot in the leg.
• Also in April, an officer fatally shot Tyler Hunkin, 29, during an encounter with a police officer. The cop later said the man was wielding two knives simultaneously, and Acevedo later categorized his death as a "suicide by cop" scenario.
• In June, a police officer shot a 19-year-old machete-wielding suspect in the abdomen after he refused to drop the weapon while holding police at bay in the 1000 block of Turtle Creek Boulevard.