Family of man killed in officer-involved shooting speaks out

AUSTIN, Texas - It's been just over a month since Alex Gonzales Jr. was killed in an officer-involved shooting.

Austin police say an off-duty APD officer, who was in his own car and not in uniform, was driving home. They say Gonzales allegedly cut him off and pointed a gun at him. The officer then allegedly shot at Gonzales, who had his girlfriend and baby also in the car.

Gonzales continued to drive southbound on Wickersham Lane before finally stopping against a curb. The officer stopped behind his vehicle and called 911.

Witness video, obtained by FOX 7 Austin, shows the moment when back up officers begin to arrive and the full encounter.

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

APD says that on-duty officers arrived minutes later and captured the next portion of the incident on body-worn cameras. The footage shows the suspect vehicle stopped along the curb with the off-duty officer's personal vehicle behind it. The off-duty officer gave commands to the driver and as backup approached, they continued giving commands to the driver who was now outside the driver's side.

Despite verbal commands, the driver walked around the rear of the vehicle towards the passenger's side, says APD. The driver opened what appears to be the back-passenger door of the vehicle. As the driver reached into the vehicle, an on-duty officer fired at the driver who went down.

RELATED: Austin police identifies man killed in officer-involved shooting

Elizabeth Gonzales, Alex's mother, said that her son never would have started any commotion. "He was a good sweet person," she said.

She says that, a month later, the events still leave her in disbelief. "When this happened, like my own world ended, my world stopped," she said. "Since that date, I can't move on. I won't move on until some justice has done for my son."

RELATED: Family remembers man fatally shot by Austin Police

That justice, the family said, is accountability through actions and delivery.

"There's a different way of interacting with your community that you're serving and you're protecting" said Carina Pinales, Alex's cousin. "And it does not have to be lethal. It does not have to be fatal."

They said they don't know all the answers, but through hope and faith, they'll find some.

"To have hope and ambition to move forward is what we have to count on," said Pinales. "That this might be able to orchestrate a conversation that hasn't been actually handled and spoken of with either the police department, with city officials, city leaders, to where we take a compassionate and humanized approach as to what the needs are from both sides."

So, they say, they can finally get justice for Alex.

"We want to stay consistent of holding the leadership and the force as a whole accountable and evaluating what could have been done differently," Pinales said.

There has been a GoFundMe set up to help with legal and funeral expenses.