Shooting In Austin Near SXSW Leaves at Least One Person Injured, Police Confirm
The celebratory mood Saturday night at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas ended in chaos, after a shooting erupted at the corner of 6th Street and San Jacinto, according to an eyewitness report from the scene.
“There was loud pop that I heard. There was a pause of a second or two, then the people in the crowd started shouting ‘a shooting,’ and everybody started running,” festival attendee Matthew Carey told Deadline.
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Paramedics responded and at least one person suffered a gunshot wound, Carey said. Another person was seen being taken away in handcuffs, as the photo above shows. That arrest came from extremely quick intervention by the Austin Police Department, another source told Deadline. “They were on the guy within a minute,” the source noted of police action in the highly patrolled neighborhood.
The Austin Police Department confirmed the shooting late Saturday night on social media:
#AustinPD is working a shooting call in the 300 block of E. 6th St. One person will be transported to the hospital. Individuals have been detained, but still searching for others that may have been involved. Please avoid the area as the investigation continues.
— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 17, 2019
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The incident occurred near the heart of the festival, in an area that’s considered the center of nightlife in Austin with several nightclubs and bars. Police are keeping a tight rein on the surrounding streets to make sure there are no other active perpetrators, we hear.
While tonight’s shooting did not actually occur at a SXSW venue or event, it was as close as you can get to the 32-year old gathering without getting in the door, so to speak.
This most recent firearm violence follows three other gun-related incidents in the past 24 hours in Texas’ capital city that saw five people hospitalized, sources said.
As was the case tonight and in 2016, past years have sadly seen other such shootings at SXSW.
This year’s SXSW opened on March 8 and is scheduled to end tomorrow.
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