Man Dies In South Austin Officer-Involved Shooting

AUSTIN, TX —A man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in South Austin on Friday evening, police said.

The incident occurred at around 6:3o p.m. at an apartment complex on 2601 S. Pleasant Valley Rd. A caller told police people were in a car at a parking lot doing drugs, reporting that one of the people had a gun. At one point, the caller told police, the man pointed the gun into the air.

Upon officers' arrival, Police Chief Brian Manley said the man initially had his hands up in the air in revealing his waistband to show he had no weapon but otherwise failed to comply with police orders, prompting one officer to deploy a non-lethal bean bag before the man re-entered the vehicle. As the man drove off, another officer fired his weapon at the car before the driver crashed into a parked vehicle.

The injured man, described as a 42-year-old Hispanic, was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m., the police chief said. Manley did not specify if the man died after being shot at or after succumbing to injuries sustained in the crash. The chief said an adult female passenger who was unharmed was detained but Manley did not specify if any charges were filed against her.

Witnesses recorded the incident on their cell phones before sharing the footage on social media. One resident's video posted on Facebook shows a man with a black tank top, not a white shirt that Manley said the caller descrbied. The video shows the man grimacing after being hit with the beanbag projectile before slumping into his vehicle and driving off a few moments later. As he slowly leaves the scene, three shots are heard.

The police chief said the officer who fired the bean bag is a recent graduate of the police academy who has been on the job three months while the officer firing the gunshot at the vehicle has been with the force for five years.

Despite the caller saying the man had a gun, Manley said no weapon was found. "We are going to get a search warrant to determine if there are weapons in the vehicle," the police chief said before an aide abruptly ended the press conference.

Manley noted the vehicle matched a description to one involved in a previous robbery incident, and the driver had evaded police the day before the shooting. For that reason, officers waited to approach the car until additional resources — including a helicopter and canine — arrived on scene.

Manley noted much video evidence of the deadly encounter exists, including police bodycam, and will be thoroughly studied as part of the police investigation. By Saturday, he urged residents who may have video footage to come forward to tell police their witness account.

No further details were released. Patch will update when more information is shared.

The incident marks the second time in less than one month that a person has died after a police encounter. The same day of the South Austin officer-involved shooting, police issued a press release identifying Eduardo Pineda and Spencer Hanna as the officers involved in the custody of a man who was tased before dying at an area hospital.

Related story: Austin PD IDs Officers Involved In In-Custody Death

Enrique Quiroz, 41, on March 31 had arrived at the home where his children lived in violation of an order to stay away from the property aong the 800 block of West Slaughter Lane, police said at the time. After resisting arrest, police said, Quiroz was tased before sufffering a medical episode while in handcuffs. He died a short time later at a hospital, police said.