Machete attack near Auditorium Shores ‘random and unprovoked,’ sources say

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A machete attack reported Tuesday morning near Auditorium Shores was a “random and unprovoked attack” on a teenager, law enforcement sources told KXAN.

A person is in custody and the teenager is in the hospital after the attack, the Austin Police Department said.

Paramedics rushed one person, later identified as the teenager by law enforcement sources, to the hospital with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries, according to Austin-Travis County EMS.

APD and ATCEMS told KXAN that medics responded at about 10 a.m. to the 100 block of South First Street, which is near the trail on the south side of Lady Bird Lake.

‘There was a lot of blood’

Justin Graber was pulling up to the area after the attack happened. Graber saw the person’s injuries.

“There was a lot of blood,” Graber said. “Lacerations to the forearm, behind the ear, lower body to an extent.”

Graber said after attacking the first victim, the suspect approached another person.

Nathan Kurten said that was him.

“I yelled, ‘I’m calling 911.’ You know, ‘Give it up,'” Kurten said. “Then at that point, he stopped but he started chasing me.”

Kurten said eventually the attacker stopped following him and went back on the trail path.

“I was still on the phone with the police, you know, trying to direct them to where he might be,” Kurten said.

Once police arrived, Kurten said they arrested the suspect and asked Kurten to identify him.

“I want to make sure they caught him because I didn’t want him out on the streets,” Kurten said.

Kurten said people he spoke with in the area said the suspect threw the machete into the river.

He said police mentioned they’d send a dive team to look for the weapon.

This developing story will be updated, as KXAN works to learn more information.

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