AISD police officer injured after shooting at Northeast Early College High School in Austin

A suspect was still at large hours after the shooting Tuesday of an Austin Independent School District police officer at Northeast Early College High School, an incident that prompted the hourslong lockdowns of the school and a nearby city facility.

Austin school district Police Chief Wayne Sneed said a sergeant with the district's force, who was doing a routine check at the high school, reported at 10:40 a.m. that someone was shooting at him. Sneed said he was shot in the leg and was in stable condition.

According to police scanner traffic, the officer was shot at Nelson Field, the school’s stadium.

Moments later, a school resource officer showed up and offered aid to the sergeant, along with Austin-Travis County EMS and other police agencies. Sneed said about 15 agencies responded.

An arrest had not been made as of Tuesday afternoon, Sneed said during a media briefing. He did not take questions from media and said the shooting was still under active investigation. The school district police are the lead investigators, in conjunction with the Austin Police Department.

It's uncertain if classes will resume Wednesday, said Cristina Nguyen, a school district spokesperson. She said mental health resources will be available to students.

Officers could be heard saying on police scanner traffic the suspect fled the scene on foot. He was described by witnesses as a bald male, between 30 and 40 years old, wearing a beige sweater and pants.

The city of Austin's nearby Permitting and Development Center — located at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, just over a mile west of the high school — was locked down as result of the shooting, said Erik Johnson, a city spokesperson.

The center will remain locked down until further notice, he added, saying people with appointments can buzz in for entry or call ahead to reschedule.

Students were taken by bus to the Delco Activity Center to be reunited with their families.

The district asked that parents stay in their cars and bring a form of ID.

Students who do not have a family member to pick them up will be taken home by bus, the district said.

Families wait near campus

Concep Montoya, the parent of a Northeast Early College High School student, was standing with other concerned parents at a gas station near the school around noon. She said she found out the school was on lockdown after her daughter, who is a sophomore, sent her a text message.

She immediately went to the scene to try to find out more information. At that time, the school district had not sent information via text or email to parents about the incident, Montoya said. The situation made her "so angry" that she was "shaking," she said.

Although her daughter told her she would not be let into the school, Montoya said, "I was like, 'I don't care. You're there. So I'm there. And I'm going to stay there until you leave with me.'"

About a dozen family members of students stood on Berkman Drive, hoping to pick up their children. When Trashon Thompson heard about the incident, she rushed over to Northeast to try to pick up her niece, a 10th grader who was hiding with other students in a locker room.

Although she heard from her niece that the students were safe, it was still scary, she said.

Angie Hernandez was texting her 10th grade son, who was in a hallway and ran into a classroom when the school went on lockdown, she said.

“How can we send our kids to school (when) we don’t know what’s going to happen?” Hernandez said. “How can we trust our kids to the school system?”

Later that afternoon, parents waited in a line snaking around the Delco Activity Center to pick up their children, who had been bused there from the high school.

It wasn’t the day Lydia Chavez had planned, she said as she waited in line with her sister to pick up her niece, who attends Northeast.

Once she heard about the incident from breaking news alerts, she and her sister contacted her niece while students waited in the dark for the all-clear.

“You don’t think it’s going to happen,” Chavez said.

She’s just glad no one died in the incident, she said.

Parent Cole Goodland was just trying to keep a level head, he said. It’s frightening to think that gun-related incidents at schools, where children are defenseless, are becoming more common, he said.

“You never know when someone’s going to be crazy,” Goodland said.

It’s a relief that students weren’t hurt and that it appears the injured officer will recover, said Candace Hunter, an Austin district school board member who represents Northeast.

“I’m glad the injuries were not life-threatening,” Hunter said. “I’m glad our kids are safe.”

Hunter emphasized the suspect wasn’t in or near the high school and that the incident happened at a baseball field.

Staff writers Bianca Moreno-Paz and Chase Rogers contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin ISD police officer shot, inured at Northeast Early College High