SXSW Festival Ends With A Weekend Of Violence In Austin

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Multiple weekend shootings left eight people injured in downtown Austin the weekend marred the last weekend of this year's SXSW festivities that draw audiences from all over the world to the city.

Overnight on Saturday, a man was shot on East 6th Street after a previous night that saw four other injuries. And early Sunday, a fender-bender along 7th Street resulted in gunfire between the vehicles' occupants, including shots fired by four police officers who who reportedly fired at during the incident.

This marked the second night of violence as the city hosts thousands of visitors for the final weekend of SXSW.

A man in his 20s was rushed to the hospital after being shot near the 300 block of East 6th Street at San Jacinto Boulevard just before midnight on Saturday. The area was closed off to traffic as it usually is each Saturday night, but crowds along the entertainment corridor were larger than usual given the ongoing arts festival still taking place.

Austin-Travis County EMS did not provide details on the shooting victim's condition as they usually do when reporting of incidents via Twitter. Police reportedly detained several people in the wake of the incident.

Later the same night, early Sunday just before 3 a.m., medics and other emergency personnel rushed to 11th Street and Interstate 35 amid reports of another shooting. In that incident, another adult male was hospitalized with a gunshot wound that was not expected to be life-threatening, medics said.

One of the shootings was the result of a two-vehicle fender-bender at the 700 block of East 7th Street, Manley said. A Maserati Levante collided against a dark-colored SUV just before 3 a.m. before the occupants of the latter vehicle exited the vehicle. Police surveillance cameras show one of the occupants reaching into the Maserati to throw punches, according to the chief. Shortly after that, gunfire is seen emanating from the Maserati as the three SUV occupants run back to their vehicle.

By this time, officers had arrived to the scene in order to mitigate the violence, according to the chief. One of the occupants of the SUV appears to have been shot prior to their arrival given the way he was doubled over, Manley said, before pulling out his own firearm from the waistband of his pants and firing at police. Four officers returned fire before the occupants of both vehicles fled the scene. Contradicting Manley's early assessment, a subsequent press release on the incident doesn't make clear the suspect actually fired at officers: "As the officers approached the disturbance, a suspect points a weapon at officers, officers return fire, the suspect/s fled the scene," it reads.

Along the way as pursuit ensued, police were flagged down by a motorist at 11th Street and I-35 who had been shot amid the hail of gunfire. The victim, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries, told police he had tried to get out of the roadway as the SUV approached, only to be shot as the vehicle eluded law enforcement.

By Sunday afternoon, police confirmed the dark Maserati Levante was located in East Austin on Sunday afternoon, with the vehicle's occupant dead inside. Police confirmed the car is the one involved in the fender-bender-turned-violent early Sunday, describing the occupant of the vehicle as a black man in his 20s. The victim has not been positively identified, police added.

The car reportedly was found at the intersection of Zach and Tilley streets just north of Morris Williams Golf Course just before noon. Originally, the Maserati was said to have contained three occupants, all black males. Meanwhile, police are still in search of the Monte Calo SS, described as dark in color with light-colored racing stripes down the center. The vehicle has collision damage on the right front corner panel, police said.

The Austin Police Department is still in search of the Monte Carlo involved in the incident. Detectives urge anyone with information about the incident to reach them by calling (512) 472-TIPS or 9-1-1. "There is no further information, and no additional interviews will be provided today," police said.

During his early morning press briefing, Manley said some 50 officers had been mobilized along the perimeter of 6th and 7th streets given the gun violence from the night before, and police consequently were able to mobilize quickly to the scene. "What you can see on this video is as this gunfire rings out, and this dangerous situation plays out, as everyone is running away, the brave men and women of the Austin Police Department ran toward that gunfire, in fact putting themselves directly in the line of fire in an attempt to put a stop to this threat."

Manley said of the four officers who discharged their weapons during the incident that two have been with the force for seven years, one for 12 and the fourth for three. The entire incident was recorded on police surveillance cameras strategically placed along the city's entertainment district, a network known as High Activity Location Observation (HALO).

Manley addressed the unusual level of violence that has marked the weekend, one in which the massive SXSW festival draws a global audience of tourists to the city: "This comes on the heels of what has been a violent weekend in Austin where we have seen multiple shootings, and this is unacceptable. We are not going to let our entertainment district be turned into a place where shootings become a common occurrence, and this weekend will not stand without a strong response from the police department."

In the wake of the multiple shootings this weekend — all taking place in ground zero of the entertainment district where SXSW festivities have taken place — meetings will take place to discuss ways of bolstering police presence in the city's hot spots.

"So again, we recognize what has happened this weekend, and we will be taking steps to address it with additional resources and plans to make sure this does not become the common occurrence here."

Police said they would schedule a press conference detailing the officer-involved shooting. Patch will updates when more details are released.

The incidents follow another incident the night before when a man was shot at a Denny's restaurant in North Austin early Saturday. That same night, three people were injured in a separate shooting at a downtown Wendy's restaurant, according to reports.

Always drawing large crowds, SXSW-related activities drew even more people than usual this year given that the spring break for UT-Austin students didn't coincide with the start of the arts festival as it usually does. As a result, massive crowds were seen each weekend of the festival scheduled from March 8-17.

The crowds along 6th Street during SXSW on Friday were bigger than usual given that UT-Austin's spring break didn't coincide during the festival's run. Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

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