Austin police investigating in-custody death; man identified

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department (APD) continues to investigate the in-custody death that happened on Tuesday, October 3.

Austin police said around 3:07 a.m., officers responded to multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting a pedestrian in the 12000 block of Research Boulevard. The 9-1-1 callers reported a man wearing blue jean shorts and no shirt was in the lanes of travel of the high-speed roadway. The callers also reported the man had obvious injuries to his body.

"The callers also reported that the male had obvious injuries to his body," said Officer Destiny Silva, APD.

When officers arrived on the scene, they located the man described in the call, who was later identified as Reice Samuel Brown. 

Officers attempted to make verbal contact with Brown and deescalate the situation. Police said Brown was not responsive to the officers’ requests. He began walking away, and seriously injuring himself with a metal object in front of the officers. 

"He began walking away, and then he began to seriously injure himself in front of our officers with a metal object," said Officer Silva.

In order to prevent further injury, one of the officers deployed his department-approved taser. The taser was effective, which then allowed officers to place Brown in handcuffs, render aid, and perform CPR prior to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services arriving on the scene.

Brown was then taken to a local hospital, but later died, police said. 

Because Brown died shortly after contact with APD officers, this incident is being investigated as an in-custody death. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner. 

"Any loss of life is a tragedy. We take this very seriously, and we are actively investigating this incident," she said.

The incident was captured on two officers’ body-worn cameras. Per APD policy, the videos will be released within 10 business days. 

The APD officer that deployed his department-approved taser has two years and eleven months of service with the department.

APD will conduct two concurrent investigations into this incident: a criminal investigation conducted by the APD Special Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney's Office and an administrative investigation conducted by the APD Internal Affairs Unit, with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call APD's Special Investigation Unit at (512) 974-6840 or Capitol Area Crime Stoppers at 512-472-8477. For the Capitol Area Crime Stoppers submission, you may submit a tip online at austincrimestoppers.org. You may remain anonymous.