City of Austin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASERelease Date:
Contact: APD Public Information Police 512-974-5017 Email
The Austin Police Department (APD) continues to investigate the officer-involved shooting that occurred Sunday, October 23, 2022.
APD continues to work diligently to build trust within our community. As per our policy, we share information about a critical incident within 10 business days of its occurrence. Transparency and accountability are key to our ability to serve the Austin community, so we will provide an account of this critical incident to help you understand the chain of events. APD is working with the Office of Police Oversight and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to release this information today. The press release includes links to the relevant audio and video from the ongoing investigation. The details provided today are preliminary, as we are very early in the investigation.
The Officers who discharged their Department approved duty weapons are Detective Donald Petraitis, Officer James Bronson, Officer David Lara, Officer Kamowa Reynolds, and Officer Ashley Uniszkiewicz.
At approximately 9:26 p.m., Austin 9-1-1 Communications received a call regarding a man with a gun at the Aubry Hills apartment complex located at 8926 North Lamar Boulevard. The caller reported the man walked towards him with a gun and displayed the gun in a “threatening manner.” The caller described the man as a black male wearing a white t-shirt, black shorts with half of his face covered. The caller remained on the phone line with Austin 9-1-1 Communications while officers responded to the scene. This man was later identified as Emeka Onyeabo Williams.
At 9:34 p.m., the first officers began arriving on scene. With the information provided by the caller, they began to look for Mr. Williams. Officers were unable to locate him in the apartment complex. The caller told Austin 9-1-1 Communications Mr. Williams was last observed traveling northbound in the direction of a mobile phone store. Officers began to search the immediate area of the 9200 and 9300 blocks of North Lamar Boulevard for Mr. Williams.
At approximately 9:40 p.m., officers located Mr. Williams, who matched the description provided by the 9-1-1 caller, inside Mariscos Los Jarochos a restaurant located at 9200 North Lamar Boulevard. Mr. Williams was located in the enclosed patio area. The restaurant has a covered patio front entryway surrounded in plexiglass.
One officer began giving commands to Mr. Williams over the public address (PA) system in their police vehicle. The officer, while giving commands, described the white shirt Mr. Williams was wearing to indicate exactly who he (the officer) was speaking to. Repeated announcements and commands were made by the officer on the PA system to Mr. Williams. These announcements included identifying the presence of the Austin Police Department, that officers knew Mr. Williams was armed, and instructions to come out with his hands up. There were several fully marked police vehicles in the parking lot with red and blue lights activated. There was a police presence at the front and side of the restaurant. Attempts to call and evacuate the restaurant were made as several civilians were inside.
For several minutes, officers gave verbal commands to Mr. Williams; however, Mr. Williams did not comply with the commands. Officers alerted employees and patrons inside the restaurant and were able to move some to safety. APD officers positioned themselves in an area close enough to see that Mr. Williams was armed with a handgun and so they could see his movements. Mr. Williams crouched down in between two rock pillars in the covered patio of the restaurant, approximately 8-10 feet from the front entryway. At the time Mr. Williams was concealed in the patio area, another man not related to the 9-1-1 call, was also in the front enclosed patio area of the restaurant near Mr. Williams.
At 10:19 p.m., Mr. Williams began to fire shots from inside the restaurant patio. Officers ran towards the gunfire to the patio entryway. After the initial shots were fired by Mr. Williams from inside the restaurant patio, he remained in his position between the two stone pillars. The man, who was still on the patio and in close proximity to Williams who was firing the handgun, squatted down to the ground.
Officers entered the plexiglass patio area. Several fully uniformed officers encountered Mr. Williams on the patio. Mr. Williams fired at the officers. Five officers: Detective Donald Petraitis, Officer Ashley Uniszkiewicz, Officer James Bronson, Officer Kamowa Reynolds, and Officer David Lara, discharged their Department approved weapons towards him, striking Mr. Williams several times.
After the officers discharged their weapons towards Mr. Williams, he went to the ground, and officers observed a handgun in front of him. The officers gave verbal commands to Mr. Williams to not reach for the handgun. The officers were able to safely secure the handgun, and immediately began life-saving measures.
Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) arrived on scene and continued life-saving measures. ATCEMS transported Mr. Williams to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition. Civilians and officers on scene did not sustain physical injuries.
Mr. Williams has been charged with the offense of Attempted Capital Murder - 1st Degree Felony. Mr. Williams has also been charged with the offense of Deadly Conduct, 3rd Degree Felony, for recklessly discharging a firearm, placing a man who was approximately 10-12 feet away, in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.
This incident was captured on both body-worn camera, dash camera, and other video sources. Body-worn and dash camera videos do not always capture everything the officer or witnesses saw or experienced during the incident; however, the footage helps us understand what occurred.
In compliance with state law that prohibits the release of certain information, and to maintain the integrity of the investigation, the materials have been redacted. The materials include comprehensive footage of the officers’ actions and contain graphic content and language. Viewer discretion is advised.
MATERIALS BEING RELEASED:
• 9-1-1 audio
• Body-worn camera Detective Donald Petraitis
• Body-worn camera Officer David Lara
• Body-worn camera Officer Ashley Uniszkiewicz
• Restaurant camera Patio View
All of the released materials are available on the Departments YouTube and other social media platforms. The link to the materials is below.
Materials-click here
All five officers discharged their Department approved duty weapons. Detective Donald Petraitis has eleven years and eleven months of service with the Department; Officer Ashley Uniszkiewicz has ten years and ten months of service with the Department; Officer James Bronson, and Officer Kamowa Reynolds have four years of service with the Department; Officer David Lara, has two years and eight months of service with the Department.
Per APD protocol, Detective Donald Petraitis, Officer Ashley Uniszkiewicz, Officer James Bronson, Officer Kamowa Reynolds, and Officer David Lara have been placed on administrative duty. 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.