Case:             22-1630767

Date:             June 12, 2022   

Time:            Approximately 12:13 p.m.      

Location:      800 E. Koenig Lane, Eastbound Service Road

Suspect:       Awaiting notification of next of kin 
 
 
The Austin Police Department (APD) continues to investigate the officer-involved shooting that occurred Sunday, June 12, 2022.
 
At approximately 12:13 p.m., a male flagged down an Austin Police Officer who was driving in a black and white marked Austin Police Department vehicle. The male began yelling at the officer in Spanish while holding a knife. The male was standing near a vehicle that stopped on the grassy shoulder of the 800 block of E. Koenig Lane, Eastbound Service Road. The officer requested additional backup officers to the scene and provided a description of the male. The officer described the male as Hispanic wearing a dingy long sleeve gray shirt and dark pants. The officer then drove past the male to reposition his police vehicle and circle back to the location. As this was occurring, two more officers arrived on the scene. The two officers began to make verbal contact with the male. One of the officers is bilingual and began speaking with the male in Spanish. 
 
The two officers parked their marked police vehicles, activated the emergency lights, and exited their vehicles in the blocked lanes of travel on the Eastbound Service Road. The initial officer who was first flagged down parked his police vehicle on Eastbound Service Road, behind the two officers who made verbal contact with the male. One more officer arrived on the scene and parked the police vehicle on the grassy shoulder, near the initial officer’s vehicle.
 
All of the officers were wearing standard Austin Police Department-issued uniforms with protective vests and patches, marked as “Police.”
 
The two officers continued to speak with the male in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The officers spoke in both English and in Spanish. For several minutes, officers asked the male to drop the knife and attempted to gather more information from him to determine the reasoning for his agitated state.
 
At 12:17 p.m., an officer communicated over the police radio that the male continued to hold a knife in his hand and he was refusing to drop it. At 12:18 p.m., an officer said he was now yelling, “Just shoot me!” One of the officers was equipped with a less-lethal shotgun and prepared it in case it was needed. This type of impact munition may be used in an attempt to de-escalate a potentially deadly or violent situation.
 
At approximately 12:20 p.m., the male began to move toward the officers with the knife. One officer announced, “Impacting,” and discharged one less-lethal round from the less-lethal shotgun, striking the male, but it was ineffective. The male continued to charge toward the officers with a knife in his hand, and one of the officers discharged his Department-issued firearm toward him. The male was struck and fell to the ground. The male rolled over and began to stand, the officer who was holding the less-lethal shotgun discharged less-lethal rounds striking the male. The male stood up and again charged toward the officers. A different officer then discharged his Department-issued firearm striking him. The male fell to the ground a second time.
 
Once the officers were able to ensure the male no longer had the knife on his person and he was not able to attack them with it, they began life-saving measures. This included CPR and the application of two tourniquets. Austin-Travis County EMS arrived on the scene and continued with life-saving measures. Austin-Travis County EMS transported the male to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at 1:09 p.m. No other civilians or officers on the scene sustained physical injuries.
 
A knife was recovered on the scene next to where the male fell to the ground.
 
This incident was captured on body-worn camera and dash-camera video. Two of the officers discharged their firearms: one officer has twenty-eight years of service, and the second officer has nine years of service with the Department. A third officer deployed the less-lethal shotgun and has twelve years of service with the department. Per APD protocol, the three officers have been placed on administrative leave. APD will conduct two concurrent investigations into this incident: a criminal investigation by the APD Special Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and an administrative investigation conducted by the APD Internal Affairs Unit, with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight.
 
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS, or use the new Crime Stoppers App.