Shooting Spree: Decision-making process behind issuing emergency alerts for shootings in Austin

Brianna Hollis
·5 min read
2

AUSTIN (KXAN) –Several people – including neighbors and a state representative – expressed concerns about law enforcement not issuing some kind of active shooter alert as a suspect allegedly shot and killed four people in Austin Tuesday and injured two officers. Authorities in Bexar County said the suspect also killed his parents before coming to Austin.

Below is the timeline of the shooting spree, as explained by Interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson early Wednesday morning.

  • 10:40 a.m. – Austin ISD officer shot near Northeast Early College High School

  • 11:59 a.m. – Double homicide on Shadywood Drive

  • 4:57 p.m. – Cyclist shot on W. Slaughter Lane, non-life-threatening injuries

  • 6:54 p.m. – APD officer responds to active burglary on Austral Loop, finds suspect in backyard. Suspect fires at officer. Officer has non-life-threatening injuries. Suspect drives away. Two people found dead inside home.

  • 7:14 p.m. – Police chase ends with suspect crashing car

TIMELINE: How Tuesday’s shooting spree in Austin, Bexar County unfolded

Henderson said police did not connect the suspect – identified Wednesday as Shane James, 34 – to all of the shootings until after the Austral Loop incident.

“The failure to use the alert system raises questions,” said State Representative Vikki Goodwin (D-Travis County). “There were multiple points in time throughout the day when the alert might have been relevant and might have saved lives.”

Andrea Fisher, a mom of four, said she had hoped for information sooner from law enforcement. She first learned of a gunman in the Circle C neighborhood from her daughter’s cycling coach after police said the suspect shot a cyclist on a nearby trail.

“It would have heightened my awareness to be more proactive quicker,” she said, describing how she may have changed her behavior if she did receive an alert from police.

A high-ranking law enforcement source told KXAN that while the investigation is still underway, the attacks in Austin at this point appear to be random, and evidence at this stage does not indicate the suspect has any connection to the Austin victims. This could change as the investigation unfolds.

That same source said there was no way of knowing the shooting of the Austin Independent School District police officer and the double homicide on Shadywood Drive were connected in the hours following. They also said the Austin Police Department did not have solid vehicle or suspect descriptions immediately following those incidents. Since the department has to have an “actionable piece of information” that will help people take precautions before deciding to issue an alert, the source said the case – as investigators knew at the time – did not meet the criteria for APD to responsibly send out an alert to the public.

“One of the things that will happen when the ongoing investigation is over, I think, is that the public will see that there’s nuance to things, and so decisions have to be made about what you’re dealing with,” said Mayor Kirk Watson. “And I think you’ll, people will see that the nuance of being in the moment and having to address things, that good decisions were made.”

As the shooting of the AISD police officer took place, parents received text notifications from the district.

“There’s really this fine line that you have to navigate,” said Peter Steinfeld, VP of Safety Solutions for Alert Meida, a subscription-based company that issues emergency alerts to businesses. “Incorrect or inconsistent information can actually worsen a situation, so accuracy is absolutely vital.”

Police later addressed the concerns regarding the use of emergency alerts.

APD said the incident at the Northeast Early College High School was led by the AISD Police Department, and APD assisted. Shortly after, a double homicide took place in a different area of Austin, and APD switched focus.

“We focused on the new shooting incident as we would any normal homicide,” APD said. “Based off the preliminary information that was collected at both scenes, there was no immediate indication that led us to believe the two incidents were connected, but we did not dismiss the possibility.”

APD said investigators later determined the two incidents could potentially be linked, and while additional information was gathered, the final incident occurred.

“An important thing to note, these incidents did not take place in one specific area of Austin, and the initial evidence we had did not show any similarities. The Austin Police Department takes the safety of our community seriously, but we must do our due diligence to ensure the information we share is done in a timely and accurate manner,” APD said.

As far as why a Blue Alert was not activated, APD said it was due to that type of alert requiring some sort of actionable intelligence.

“Merely sharing that an officer was shot does not give the community anything to ‘look out for’ or action items to take to be safe. There was no specific suspect or vehicle information to share, which would meet our threshold for moving forward with a Blue Alert,” APD said.

According to police, because the situation was not an “active shooting event,” APD did not use the TX HB 103.

“This was a series of events which took place in several different locations across the city with various or unknown motives and no specific commonality. It is not common practice for APD, or any other law enforcement agency, to issue any sort of alert for every shooting that happens in their jurisdiction with an unidentified shooter,” APD said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.