3 dead, including SWAT officer, following hostage incident in Austin: Police

Three individuals are useless after a hostage state of affairs unfolded in Austin, Texas, early Saturday, together with a responding SWAT officer who was shot and killed in a shootout with the suspect, police stated.

A second officer was additionally injured and the suspect was killed within the taking pictures, which occurred at a residence in southwest Austin, police stated.

“This has been a really tragic day, a really tragic incident for all concerned,” interim Austin Chief of Police Robin Henderson stated in emotional remarks throughout a press briefing on Saturday.

The incident unfolded shortly earlier than 3 a.m. native time Saturday, when a 911 caller requested assist on the residence, Henderson stated. The caller was “screaming for assist” and stated someone was stabbing her, Henderson stated.

The primary officers who arrived on scene positioned an injured sufferer who had managed to flee the residence, Henderson stated. She was transported to an area hospital, stated Henderson, who didn’t present any particulars on the extent of her accidents.

The officers had been notified that two different injured victims had been nonetheless contained in the residence with the suspect, who the escaped sufferer stated nonetheless had a knife, Henderson stated.

Officers tried to make an emergency pressured entry into the residence to “rescue the 2 victims,” Henderson stated. After they introduced themselves as police and entered the residence, they had been “fired upon by the suspect,” Henderson stated. The officers retreated and didn’t return hearth, she stated.

“As a result of the suspect was armed and barricaded inside a residence and had two hostages, SWAT was referred to as out to the scene,” Henderson stated.

SWAT officers arrived shortly after 4 a.m. and tried a second pressured entry to rescue the victims, Henderson stated. Upon entry, the suspect “instantly fired,” she stated.

Two officers had been shot and transported to an area hospital. One succumbed to his accidents regardless of life-saving measures, whereas the second is in secure situation, Henderson stated.

The 2 victims had been positioned contained in the residence with deadly accidents and pronounced useless on the scene, Henderson stated. They haven’t been publicly recognized.

The suspect was additionally pronounced useless on the scene, she stated. The suspect has not been publicly recognized.

That is the primary time in a decade that an officer from the Austin Police Division has been killed within the line of responsibility, in response to ABC affiliate KVUE in Austin.

“My coronary heart and the hearts of Austinites are damaged this morning. It is a horrible second for our metropolis and those that defend us,” Mayor Kirk Watson stated in an announcement. “I am praying for the household of our fallen officer, for our officer who was shot and in surgical procedure and his household.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated in an announcement that the “tragedy is a reminder of the nice dangers and selfless management our legislation enforcement officers train day by day to serve and defend their communities.”

A number of officers discharged their firearms in the course of the taking pictures, Henderson stated. They aren’t being recognized presently.

The Austin Police Division will conduct a prison investigation into the officer-involved taking pictures along side the Travis County District Lawyer’s Workplace, in addition to an administrative investigation with oversight from the Workplace of Police Oversight, Henderson stated.