a gun-wielding suspect was fatally shot by police officers while three innocent bystanders sustained injuries. (Photo: Yahoo)
Fatal Shooting and Bystander Injuries
In the middle of Austin, Texas, on Saturday night, a normal evening turned into chaos when police shot and killed a suspect with a gun and hurt three innocent witnesses. The crime happened just before midnight on East 6th Street, which is in the Texas capital’s busy entertainment area.
According to interim Police Chief Robin Henderson, the frightening call to the police at 11:52 p.m. about a man trying to get into a bar with a gun set off the entire chain of events. When police arrived at the scene, they were able to identify the suspect from outside the bar. The person brandished his gun and pointed it at both the cops and the people who were just watching without knowing what was going on.
In response to this immediate threat, three Austin Police Department officers fired their department-approved weapons, hitting the suspect multiple times. The suspect was later pronounced dead. There were no injuries to any of the police officers during the fight, but three people nearby were hurt. One of the onlookers was seriously hurt and was taken to the hospital right away. The other two people were hurt but their injuries were not life-threatening.
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Ongoing Investigations and Community Response
The exact nature of the bystanders’ injuries has not yet been proven, which makes it even more important for the investigation to be open and honest. Notably, the whole killing was caught on the officers’ body cameras. This is required by police policy, which says that footage like this must be made public within 10 business days.
At this point, the name of the deceased suspect has not been made public. As is standard practice after an officer-involved killing, the officers involved have been put on administrative duty. Interestingly, all three cops involved in the fight have been with the Austin Police Department for a long time—between nine and thirteen years.
Two investigations are going on at the same time into this investigation. The first is being led by the Austin Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit in partnership with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. The second is being led by the police department’s internal affairs section. As the investigations continue, there are still a lot of questions that haven’t been answered. This means that the whole situation needs to be looked at in detail to give the affected community clarity and honesty.
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