Police have arrested one suspect and are searching for another after a mass shooting on a crowded downtown Austin street early on Saturday left 14 people wounded, two of them critically.
The Austin Police Department said in a news release that the US Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force assisted in making the arrest, but gave no details other than to say it is continuing to follow up on leads for the suspect still at large.
Austin Interim Chief of Police Joseph Chacon said the shooting happened at about 1:30am on a street packed with bars and barricaded off from vehicle traffic.
Photo: AP
Investigators believe it began as a dispute between two parties, he said.
Both suspects are male, Chacon said, but declined to disclose details such as whether both fired shots, as the investigation was ongoing.
“Most of the victims were innocent bystanders, but we’re still sorting out all of the victims to see what their involvement is in this case,” Chacon said.
The mass shooting — one of at least three in the US overnight — sparked panic along Sixth Street, a popular nightlife destination in the city that is home to the University of Texas.
One witness, Matt Perlstein, told KXAN-TV that he was waiting with a friend to enter a bar.
“Everything was totally fine,” Perlstein said, then gunfire erupted. “We just heard like ... a bunch of gunshots going off. Everyone got on the ground. We couldn’t even comprehend what was going on at the time.”
Chacon said his officers responded quickly.
“They were able to immediately begin life-saving measures for many of these patients, including applications of tourniquets; applications of chest seals,” he said.
Due to the chaos on the barricaded street, police drove six of the wounded to hospitals in their squad cars. Ambulances transported four people and the other four made their own way to hospitals, he said.
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