Man killed by police after trading gunfire with officers in Southeast Austin, authorities say

A man was fatally shot by police early Thursday after exchanging gunfire with officers in Southeast Austin, authorities said.

Police have not yet released the man's name or the names of the five officers involved in the shooting. No one else was reported injured.

Austin police responded at 4:55 a.m. to the 1500 block of Crossing Place off East Riverside Drive. They had received reports that a man in a vehicle was pointing a gun at people, Chief Joe Chacon told reporters hours after the incident.

The officers who arrived at the location at 5:15 a.m. found a pickup truck matching the description of the vehicle mentioned in the call, Chacon said. Those officers then slowly walked over to the truck and, as they did, the man inside the vehicle opened the driver's side door, according to police.

"(Officers) began issuing instructions to exit the vehicle," Chacon said. "Within seconds of that truck door opening, the man inside began firing at the officers."

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Chacon said five officers scrambled to find cover and returned gunfire. The man appeared to have been wounded and was still moving in the vehicle. The officers told him to get out of the truck so they could give him first aid, the chief said.

"Officers finally were able to approach the vehicle safely to open the car door and extract the individual from inside," Chacon said. "Once they ensured that he did not have any weapons in his hands or on his person, they immediately began life-saving measures."

Austin-Travis County EMS medics arrived and continued to treat the man, but he was pronounced dead at 5:37 a.m., according to Chacon.

As is standard APD protocol in cases where lethal force is used, the five officers involved in the shooting will be on administrative duty while two 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 and 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.

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"I've been talking since I took over as the chief of police about gun violence in our communities," Chacon said. "It is an epidemic that we've been seeing more and more.

"The fact that we have firearms that are being used in so many of these incidents, in so many crimes, is completely unacceptable," he continued.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police shoot, kill man after trading gunfire