Video shows shootout between APD officer, suspect in Southeast Austin
AUSTIN, Texas - New video shows the shootout between an Austin police officer and a resident Sunday night. An officer was shot and wounded, and the suspect was arrested.
"I had never in my life seen so many police cars. I better not ever hear anybody complain about not having enough police in this town because we had more than enough out here last night," a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies lined a Southeast Austin neighborhood as an Austin police officer said he had been shot.
"This was a very chaotic scene and turned out to require quite a bit of resources," Austin Police Department Chief Joseph Chacon said.
RELATED: Police officer shot in 'chaotic scene' in Southeast Austin: APD
A concerned resident called for police to check on his neighbor. Police showed up about two hours later and it was dark outside.
"This individual had not been seen for several months and there was concern for the person’s safety," Chief Chacon said.
Neighbors said the man doesn’t leave his home. The only time they’ve seen him outside is to take the trash out about every other month.
APD officers knocked on the door of the neighbor Sunday night and no one answered.
"Officers determined that they were going to make forced entry," Chacon said, "Within seconds they were confronted by a resident who approached them with a firearm."
The shootout then began.
Video shows an APD officer shooting at the suspect. One shot flew through the window of a neighbor’s home.
"If it hadn’t been a stone house, we would have been shot by the police in our own house," the neighbor said.
Another video clip shows the suspect came out of his home with a shot gun and fired several rounds in the neighborhood. One went through a window and into the children’s playroom in the neighbor’s home.
"I was scared to death. I mean, we knew there was somebody shooting in our house," the neighbor said.
The neighbor said the injured officer took cover in his garage.
"They apparently thought that we were somehow involved. But I just kept telling them, no, it's the guy in that house, that house," the neighbor said.
He said APD detained he and his wife for hours and during that time their front door was blown to pieces. What remains are boarded up doors, torn down fences, and bullet holes scattered in the neighborhood.
Two police officers fired their weapons, and one was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect was arrested and taken to the hospital.
The officers have been placed on administrative duty which is standard while investigations are being conducted.