AUSTIN, Texas _ A man was killed in downtown Austin Saturday night in the midst of a protest against police violence, and police said they have taken the shooter into custody.
Although police have not yet released the names of the victim and suspect, the alleged victim's mother Sheila Foster told Good Morning America Sunday morning that her son Garrett Foster was killed. Several social media posts and protesters early Sunday morning were chanting and calling on others to remember his name.
The shooting happened about 9:50 p.m. at Fourth Street and Congress Avenue, EMS officials said. Austin police said the male victim was carrying a weapon when he approached a vehicle. The person in the vehicle then shot the man.
According to multiple witnesses, the incident began when the driver on Fourth Street honked, turned right and sped down Congress, driving through the crowd. He appeared to hit an orange barrier in the road and came to a stop, said Michael Capochiano, who attended the protest.
"There were people around the car, yelling, and people sounding like they were frightened," Capochiano said.
A protester with a rifle approached the car, and the driver pointed his gun outside the window, Capochiano said. The driver fired several shots, then sped away, he said.
The man with the rifle "dropped to the ground when he got shot," Capochiano said.
Medics performed CPR on the victim, but he later died at Dell Seton Medical Center, officials said. Police are investigating the incident as a homicide. The suspected shooter is cooperating with officials, police said.
No other injuries were reported.
According to a Facebook Live video of the hourslong march, car honking could be heard before eight gunshots were unleashed. Several screaming protesters immediately took cover.
Shortly after the shooting, a shaken protester told the Facebook Live cameraman that the man shot had been a regular at such protests and that his fiance is in a wheelchair.
Protesters had gathered in downtown Austin on Saturday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
By early Sunday morning, about 50 protesters had returned to Austin Police Department headquarters, where protesters had convened hours earlier. A visibly grieving woman, who is believed to be the victim's fiance, joined protesters. Protesters surrounded her to give her their condolences while chanting Garrett Foster's name.
"A good man stripped from this earth, stripped from his fiance literally hours ago," a protester told the Statesman outside of police headquarters; he declined to provide his full name, as many protesters have done, citing fear of retaliation. "This is fresh. I'm numb, to be honest. The fact that you can go from being five feet away from this man at the beginning of the march, him marching, him yelling, him chanting to being lifeless. It's a messed-up reality."
