APD identifies officers involved in fatal February hostage situation
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department says that it currently plans to release a critical incident briefing video on a deadly officer-involved shooting in Northeast Austin in early February in two months.
APD says that it is still investigating the shooting that happened on Feb. 10 on Rogge Lane and they plan to release the video no later than June 4.
APD has also identified the two officers involved in the shooting as:
- Officer Jeffrey Hutchison - 8 years of service with APD
- Officer Ryan Nichols - 13 years of service with APD
Both officers were placed on paid administrative leave as per policy following the incident, but APD says they have since returned to full duty.
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WHAT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 10th?
A SWAT situation in Northeast Austin ended in an officer-involved shooting where a suspect was killed.
In a media briefing, former Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said that Austin 911 received a call at 5:18 p.m. on Feb. 10 about a vehicle that crashed into a home in the 2900 block of Rogge Lane.
Manley says that as officers were responding to the crash, 911 received a call three minutes later at a nearby home where the caller said someone had broken into her home.
Officers reporting to the burglary call heard a disturbance and screaming inside the home and forced entry. At that point, Manley says the suspect fired at the officers, and Officer Hutchison returned fire.
The officer was not injured by the gunfire, says Manley, but he did sustain a minor injury from some type of glass or wood shrapnel. After this, the officers exited the home and called in for additional resources, including SWAT. Manley says that inside the home were the woman who had initially called the police about the break-in and a 10-year-old boy.
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While SWAT prepared at the scene, Manley said that officers continued to try and make contact with the suspect multiple times and ask him to surrender. At one point a door was open and the officers could see the child inside the home trying to wave them inside, saying there was no one inside with them before the suspect would close the door.
Manley says that the suspect would be seen outside of the home, then go back inside multiple times, and then at 6:17 p.m., the suspect came and opened the door, holding the boy in front of him in a "hostage position".
At that point, Officer Nichols, one of the SWAT officers, fired on the suspect, fatally wounding him. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene and both hostages were taken to receive medical attention, according to Manley.
The suspect was identified at the time as a 21-year-old man and was not known to APD and there was reportedly no connection between him and the woman and boy. The woman has told police that she had no idea and he just broke into her home and had a gun.