'They're very good people': Neighbors describe family involved in Austin SWAT standoff

Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove the name of the stabbing victim who escaped the scene of the Nov. 11 incident.

A standoff that ended in the deaths of three family members and a SWAT officer rocked a quiet South Austin neighborhood, where residents remembered the family as compassionate, close-knit and involved in the community.

“It’s really sad for us. We knew them well,” neighbor Reginald Voglezon said. “You don’t get better people than that.”

In the early hours of Nov. 11, Austin police SWAT officers forced their way into a home at 9308 Bernoulli Drive. Police said a man had barricaded himself with two people and stabbed a third person who escaped.

SWAT was called to the scene after the assailant shot at other police officers who had entered the home.

The assailant shot at the SWAT officers, and they returned fire. Two officers were shot. They were taken to the hospital, where officer Jorge Pastore died. The other officer, who was not identified, left the hospital days later.

Two people, Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar and Riad Mohamed Nassar, were found dead inside the home, and the assailant, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, was fatally shot by police. The stabbing victim, whom police did not identify by name, was taken to a hospital.

Police identified the people who died in the home on Wednesday.

Public records show that Ahmed Nassar was the son of Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar and the brother of Riad Mohamed Nassar.

Neighbors describe Nassar family

Reginald and Roxanne Voglezon have lived on the corner of Bernoulli Drive for 20 years, just a couple of houses down from the Nassar family, who they said moved in a few years after them.

They both described the Nassars as “private,” “quiet” and “very nice,” recalling that the family would bring them food during Ramadan and that once the father, Mohamed Nassar, took Reginald Voglezon to a doctor’s appointment.

"They're very good people," Voglezon told the Statesman in an interview the day after the standoff.

Voglezon said he and Mohamed Nassar were on the homeowners association board together, and that they used to walk the neighborhood to award the yard of the month designation. He also said they would get coffee sometimes.

Mohamed Nassar is originally from Egypt, and that's where he was the night of the incident, Voglezon said.

“Mohamed is such a nice guy,” he said. "They would check on you and see how you are doing.”

The Voglezons said Riad Nassar worked in tech.

Riad Nassar, who died during the Nov. 11 incident, had a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in computer science from Austin College, according to his personal website, and he had worked as a user experience designer with Akamai Innovations, a medical marketing company, since 2021.

In his free time, he judged robotics competitions and helped teach robotics to children in Central Texas, according to his website and LinkedIn page. He was also on the board of Black UX, a civic and social organization that connects user experience professionals with people of African heritage in Austin, according to the organization's LinkedIn page.

"Some people like to compete. I like to cooperate," Riad Nassar wrote on his website.

Public information about the mother, Eyman Ahmed Elnemr-Nassar, who also died, was limited.

Roxanne Voglezon began to tear up thinking about the family and what the father must be going through. She said that almost 24 hours after the incident, its gravity really hit her.

“A whole family,” she said, “just like that.”

Neighbors noticed 'big change' in Ahmed Nassar

Over the past year or so, the Voglezons said, Ahmed Nassar’s demeanor began to change. He would work out a lot, wouldn’t say hi and would drop his head to avoid eye contact with neighbors.

Multiple neighbors described Ahmed Nassar similarly, saying that they would see him walking outside, holding hand weights and wearing a backpack.

Reginald Voglezon said Ahmed Nassar wasn’t always like that, though. He said Nassar used to chat with him and speculated that his change in character was because he'd struggled to find a job.

“From the person I (knew) to this, it’s a … big change,” Voglezon said.

Some media outlets reported that Ahmed Nassar had been on an FBI watchlist, but the Austin Police Department told the Statesman that was false. The Statesman found that Austin police received a tip about him in 2015 regarding suspicious activity but did not find any connections to crime or any other reason to continue surveilling him.

The day of the SWAT standoff

The morning of the incident, the Voglezons, like many of their neighbors, were stirred awake by the police activity outside.

At first, Roxanne Voglezon thought she was dreaming.

“I went right back to sleep,” she said, “and then we heard the knock on the door.”

Around 3:30 a.m., officers told them that there was an incident two doors down and that they needed to leave, initially giving them very few details, Roxanne Voglezon said.

They got in their car with their dogs, went to a nearby gas station and waited. They returned home about four hours later.

Later, officers asked for their home security camera footage. Roxanne Voglezon recalled seeing footage of a woman walking on the street and saying the words “brother” and “police." Based on what they saw, they believe it was the woman who was stabbed.

“She was walking up and down the street” at 2:51 a.m., Roxanne Voglezon said.

“Then she disappeared,” Reginald Voglezon added.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 'Very good people': Neighbors describe family involved in standoff