Police investigating North Austin motel shooting kill man in unrelated confrontation, APD says

Two police officers investigating a motel shooting in North Austin on Sunday traded gunfire with a man and killed him in an unrelated confrontation, police said.

Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon, briefing reporters Sunday night, did not identify the man who was shot but confirmed that police recovered the man's weapon.

Chacon also did not identify the officers involved in the shooting, saying only that one of the officers was a rookie and the other was veteran who was training him.

Police initially responded at 2:55 p.m. to a shooting at a Motel 6 on the southbound service road of Interstate 35 North, in the 7100 block near the intersection with East St. Johns Avenue.

PREVIOUSLY: Austin police officer shoots, injures man early Saturday in North Austin

The victim in that shooting had critical injuries but was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition Sunday night, the police chief said.

"That shooting is not related to our officer-involved shooting," he said, "that's simply the call that (police) found themselves here on."

Two of the officers who were investigating the motel shooting were canvassing the area, looking for video that could provide more information about the incident, Chacon said. They were in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven on the north side of the Motel 6 about 4:45 p.m. when they heard gunshots coming from the East St. John's Avenue bridge over I-35.

After they called for other officers to respond, the two officers approached East St. Johns Avenue and "did observe a subject who was firing a weapon, appeared to be firing a weapon into a tent that was located in that area," Chacon said.

The chief said the two uniformed officers instructed the man to get on the ground but that he turned and fired at the officers.

"The officers at that time returned fire, and the subject did go down," Chacon said.

More: Video, 911 calls released from Jan. 29 police shooting in North Austin that wounded robbery suspect

With the man on the ground, police moved his weapon away and tried to give the man first aid, but he died of his injuries at 5:06 p.m., the chief said. Police did not release any other details about the man or his injuries.

One of the police officers who fired at the man was "in a training capacity" and had graduated from the academy at the end of last month. The other officer, who has four years of experience with the Austin Police Department, was his training officer, Chacon said.

As is standard APD protocol in cases where lethal force is used, the two officers will be on administrative duty while concurrent investigations take place: a criminal inquiry undertaken by the department's special investigations unit with the Travis County district attorney's office and an administrative investigation conducted by the police internal affairs unit with the civilian Office of Police Oversight.

The incident was captured on police body-worn cameras, and the footage related to the shooting should be released within 10 business days, per police policy, the chief said.

Police briefly closed off the area along the southbound service road, including the St. Johns Avenue bridge, while officers investigated.

2nd St. Johns Avenue shooting this year

This is the second police shooting in that area this year. In late January, Austin police officer Jon Riordan, also responding to an earlier report of a shooting, shot and wounded a man.

The man shot by Riordan, 31-year-old Terry Gonzales, was treated for his injuries and later arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.

Police said that officers had responded at 2:31 a.m. Jan. 29 to reports of a shooting in the 7100 block of North I-35, near a restaurant and the Motel 6.

In 911 calls and police video footage made public last month, a woman describes a man firing shots behind the restaurant. Video footage shows Riordan walking around the parking lot and heading to the motel behind the restaurant, where the woman pointed.

In the video, Riordan finds Gonzales coming out of a breezeway, toward the parking lot of the motel, and shouts to him multiple times, "Hey, get on the ground! Austin police! Get on the ground!" and "I said get on the ground or I'll shoot you."

Gonzales is seen walking behind parked vehicles in the motel parking lot. Riordan pulls out his pistol and fires multiple shots. A firearm was recovered where Gonzales fell, police said.

Riordan, who has 2½ years of service with the Austin Police Department, was placed on administrative leave while investigations of the incident continue.

According to the Travis County district attorney's office, its investigation of Riordan's case "should be concluded within a time frame that will allow the case to be presented to a grand jury" no later than early fall.

American-Statesman criminal justice reporter Katie Hall contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Police working Austin motel shooting, kill man in unrelated gunfight