Case: 22-2660503
Date: September 23, 2022
Time: Approximately 9:19 a.m.
Location: 1800 block of Brassie St. (Original call was at 6118 block of Fairway St.)
Suspect: Antonio Gonzales, Hispanic Male, 07/07/1993
The Austin Police Department (APD) continues to investigate the officer-involved shooting that occurred Friday, September 23, 2022.
On Friday, September 23, 2022, at approximately 9:19 a.m., APD received a 9-1-1 call of a disturbance between a man and a woman regarding child custody in the 6100 block Fairway St.
Patrol officers were dispatched to the location of the call. The woman caller provided information that a man had a gun in his pocket and displayed it. It was initially indicated that children involved were being held hostage by the man and a potential hostage situation was occurring. The man was later identified as Mr. Antonio Gonzales.
Patrol officers arrived on scene in marked APD vehicles at 9:35 a.m. Upon the officer’s arrival, Mr. Gonzales did not have the children in his custody. Mr. Gonzales exited a vehicle and began walking around in the middle of the 1700 block of Brassie St., near the previous call location. He was armed with a handgun. He placed the gun against his head and then placed it in his waistband. Officers made verbal contact with Mr. Gonzales and attempted to de-escalate the situation by engaging with him and providing him with commands to lay on the ground. Officers on scene repeatedly told Mr. Gonzales they did not want him to get hurt and wanted to help. Mr. Gonzales did not comply with any of the several commands. During verbal contact with officers, Mr. Gonzales said he was going to kill himself several times. A crisis intervention officer arrived on scene at 9:43 am.
At 9:47 a.m., SWAT was called to the scene. While waiting for SWAT’s arrival, officers on scene continued to ask Mr. Gonzales to drop the gun. At 9:51 a.m., Mr. Gonzales said he would shoot himself if officers refused to shoot him. At 9:53 a.m., the first officer trained as a hostage negotiator arrived on scene and began communicating with Mr. Gonzales.
At 9:59 a.m., the first SWAT officer arrived on scene. This became an “open-air SWAT call,” which describes a situation where a subject is not inside a vehicle or a structure, and they are in an open-air environment threatening themselves and or others. Officers were concerned for the safety of Mr. Gonzales and the other people in the neighborhood, so they attempted to evacuate all of the homes in the immediate area. There were some residents inside the homes who decided not to evacuate, and instead chose to shelter in place.
For approximately two hours, APD crisis intervention officers and hostage negotiators attempted to de-escalate the situation by speaking to Mr. Gonzales through both a loudspeaker and a cell phone. The gun Mr. Gonzales placed in his waistband remained visible to the officers, and was easily accessible to Mr. Gonzales.
At 11:51 a.m., SWAT officers approached Mr. Gonzales with less-lethal means to attempt to take him into custody. SWAT Officers deployed two Department issued Tasers, and Department issued less-lethal munitions at Mr. Gonzales, but all means were ineffective. Mr. Gonzales then reached for his gun and attempted to pull it from his waistband. A SWAT officer fired his Department issued firearm towards Mr. Gonzales striking him. Mr. Gonzales then fell to the ground.
After officers confirmed that Mr. Gonzales was no longer a threat, they approached him to provide life-saving measures. At 11:59 a.m., Mr. Gonzales succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene.
The woman who originally called 9-1-1 and the children were unharmed. Civilians and the officers on scene did not sustain physical injuries.
This incident was captured on body-worn camera and other video sources. The SWAT officer that discharged his duty firearm has six years of service; the officer that deployed the less-lethal munition has 7 years of service, and the two officers who deployed the Tasers have 20 and 15 years of service with the Austin Police Department, respectively.
Per APD protocol, the four 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.