Suspect in deadly officer-involved shooting at South Austin apartment complex identified

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department has identified the man killed in an officer-involved shooting in South Austin.

Police said on July 20, around 4:55 a.m., officers responded to a 911 call reporting that a woman was banging on a door saying a man was chasing her at an apartment complex in the 3600 block of Menchaca Road.

When officers arrived, they found the woman who told police a man was chasing her through the apartment complex and had a knife.

At around 5:06 a.m., the man, identified as 60-year-old James Woodrome approached the officers in the parking lot of the apartment complex, holding a knife in his hands.

Officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, giving commands to drop the knife. Woodrome did not comply with the commands and repeatedly yelled at officers to shoot and kill him.

One officer deployed a taser, but it proved ineffective. Woodrome continued to walk towards the officers, prompting another officer to deploy his taser, but it was also ineffective.

Woodrome continued to walk toward them with the knife in his hand. An officer than shot Woodrome, at which point he fell to the ground.

Once the scene was made safe by removing the knife, officers immediately performed life-saving measures and requested medical assistance at the scene. 

Woodrome died from his injuries and was pronounced dead at 5:19 a.m.

The incident is currently under investigation.

Former APD officer and union president Wayne Vincent provided his analysis last week. 

"This particular situation is every officer's nightmare. If you're confronted with an individual with a weapon that is just not listening to instructions. The last thing a police officer wants to use is deadly force," he said. "It looks like they exhausted all options. There is basically a 21-foot rule that police officers are trained. If you were being threatened with a cutting instrument, 21 feet is a cut-off before you need to use deadly force."

This incident was captured on three officers' body-worn cameras. Per APD policy, the video will be released within 10 business days. 

The APD officer that discharged the department-approved firearm has three years and five months of service with the department. One of the officers who deployed a department-issued taser has 13 years and three months of service, and the other officer that deployed a department-issued taser has eight months of service with the Austin Police Department. 

Per APD protocol, all three officers have been placed on administrative leave.

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.