AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police have arrested one man in connection with an overnight shooting that injured 14 people, officials said. The arrest was made by Austin police and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.
The arrest came after the city's Sixth Street entertainment district, filled with revelers resuming post-pandemic life, again became the scene of chaos and bloodshed early Saturday when 14 people were wounded in a mass shooting that intensified questions about public safety and gun violence in one of the nation's fastest-growing cities.
Police said they had zeroed in on two suspects involved in previous dispute and were rapidly working to arrest them. Interim Police Chief Joe Chacon expressed confidence that investigators would soon be able to untangle more details about what prompted the gunfire and that suspects could face a range of charges that include attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Officials said they believe most of the victims, whose injuries ranged from moderate to critical, were innocent bystanders and said that he believes that no one had died because of swift and heroic actions his officers took.
The shooting marked the most significant mass casualty incident emergency officials have responded to citywide since 2014 -- an incident that also happened in the same area when a man plowed his car into a crowded, barricaded street during SXSW. Four people died and 30 were injured.
Although no one died as the result of Saturday's shooting, the incident also marked the first time that many people were shot since the infamous mass shooting from the University of Texas Tower in 1966 that left 15 dead.
The scene began unfolding at the height of a typical weekend night on Sixth Street. Austin-Travis County EMS medics responded at 1:25 a.m. to what they described as an "active attack" in the 400 block of East Sixth Street. Officials said that in security video they had seen as part of the investigation, victims appeared to be enjoying themselves one moment, then dropped to the ground from injuries as shots rang out. When first responders arrived, they found people covered in blood and sprawled out on the street and sidewalk.
"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.
Police told the American-Statesman that the crowd in the city's entertainment district at the time was near the size of a "prepandemic" group, meaning potentially tens of thousands of people gathered in the area anchored by Sixth Street. The Republic of Texas biker rally is happening in Austin this weekend, which also typically draws thousands of motorcyclists to the city and the entertainment district, but Chacon said they have no information that the event played any role.
In the chaos, medics from Austin-Travis County EMS tended to the most seriously wounded and raced them to the hospital.
Dramatic video shows Austin police officers racing toward the scene, then seconds later administering first aid to some of the victims. Cameras captured two officers carrying a woman dressed in red high heels, and in other footage, officers could be seen crouched over a victim in the street providing help. Police said that as ambulances struggled to access the area, officers put victims in squad cars and other police vehicles to drive them to the hospital.
“We had a lot of trouble getting our command vehicles and ambulances where they needed to be — the streets were blocked off, the crowds were so heavy, and there was so much chaos,” said Selena Xie, union president for Austin-Travis County EMS. “That’s why police have mounted units (on horseback) because that is much easier to maneuver than a vehicle.”
What happened overnight instantly sparked renewed conversation not only about safety in Austin’s most cherished entertainment district, but also about a sharp rise in gun violence in the city overall. Police statistics show that gun crimes went from 689 in 2015 to 1,054 in 2020.
"This is emblematic of that," Chacon said. "It continues, and it is something we are trying to work to decrease."
Mayor Steve Adler said in a statement Saturday that the uptick “locally is part of a disturbing rise in gun violence across the country as we exit the pandemic. APD and the City Council have initiated multiple violence prevention efforts in response, but this crisis requires a broader, coordinated response from all levels of government.”
Last month, city council members voted on a measure to expedite putting a series of gun violence prevention programs in place. Other officials, including Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza and County Attorney Delia Garza, have adopted other programs, including a requirement that some defendants released on bond must surrender any firearm as a condition of getting out of jail.
The city’s response to the rise in violence also comes as Austin is searching for its next police chief.
In the three months that Chacon has served as interim, the shooting was the second major incident that has drawn a significant law enforcement response. The other involved the shooting of three people near the Arboretum that initially was reported as an active shooter and search for the suspect in what police later described as a domestic incident. The alleged shooter, former Travis County Sheriff’s deputy Stephen Broderick, was found and arrested the next morning.
State officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, also addressed the shooting. Abbott said in a statement that the Texas Department of Public Safety is working closely with the department to “ensure that the perpetrators are captured and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
During the just-completed legislative session, Republicans successfully passed several bills loosening gun restrictions, including a measure that would allow anyone 21 or older who can legally possess a firearm in Texas to carry a handgun in public without a permit. Current state law allows residents 21 or older to carry a handgun only after completing the required training and criminal background check to obtain a license to carry. House Bill 1927, known as constitutional carry by gun rights advocates, has long been a legislative priority of many conservative Republican lawmakers, and Abbott has said he will sign the bill.
Other GOP bills approved this year will allow school marshals to carry concealed guns instead of keeping them locked away, let hotel guests bring guns to their rooms, remove sales taxes for firearm safety equipment and lift Texas-made firearm silencers from the state's list of prohibited weapons.
Taylor Blount was at a bar on Sixth Street when he heard a barrage of gunshots.
"I only heard them from a single weapon, and then everyone started running in different directions," he said. "People were freaking out a lot, and there were some people crying, but most people were just freaking out.
Blount, 26, said he ran inside a bar, closed the door and locked it because he could not immediately determine where the shots were from.
Moments later, when he believed it to be safe, he said he went outside and saw police officers dragging a man who had been shot in the ribs to safety and then performing first aid on him.
"It was very intense."
