Gunman shoots at least 14 in ‘pre-pandemic’ size Austin crowd
A gunman opened fire early Saturday in a “pre-pandemic” sized crowd in the entertainment district in downtown Austin, Texas, wounding at least 13 people before slipping away from the scene undetected.
There were no fatalities, but at least two victims were fighting for their lives, police said.
Police told the Austin American-Statesman they had zeroed in on two suspects involved in a previous dispute.
Interim Police Chief Joe Chacon expressed confidence that investigators would soon be able to untangle the details to explain what prompted the gunfire.
The shooter or shooters appear to have fired randomly into the crowd at the 400 block of East Sixth Street, a popular entertainment district lined with bars and restaurants.
The shots sent thousands scrambling and whoever pulled the trigger managed to disappear into the panicked crowd as it scattered.
Police quickly began combing through video shot by bystanders and security cameras in the area, searching for more details, the American-Statesman reported.
Chacon credited cops who were nearby and rushed to the chaotic scene after hearing the shots with saving lives.
“It was very difficult to contain the scene, it was very difficult for EMS to make their way into this crowd,” interim Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon said in a news conference. “And because of the nature of the injuries, officers had to go ahead and use their police vehicles to put some of these shooting victims into their vehicles and transport them themselves.”
Officers took six victims to the hospital in police vehicles, a statement from Austin Police said. Three victims were brought in personal vehicles and Austin-Travis County EMS transported four victims to local hospitals.
Police told the American-Statesman that the crowd in the city’s entertainment district at the time was near the size of a “pre-pandemic” group, meaning potentially tens of thousands of people gathered in the area. The paper noted that the city is hosting The Republic of Texas biker rally this weekend, which typically draws thousands of motorcyclists to the city’s entertainment district.
Chacon said there were streets cordoned off and there was a high police presence in the area before the shooting. “But what we have seen in recent months and over the last year or so is an increase in gun violence,” he said, “and so this is just emblematic of that.”
The shooting was at almost the exact spot where a drunk driver slammed into a crowd during the South by Southwest Fesitval, killing four, in 2014.
Late Saturday, one man was arrested and police were working to track down a second man, The Austin American-Statesman reported.
