SWAT situation in South Austin ends with suspect in custody

AUSTIN, Texas - A man is in custody after allegedly pointing an assault rifle at his neighbor in Southwest Austin. The incident prompted a shelter in place and school lockdown. Those have since been lifted.

The APD SWAT team responded to a ‘Gun Urgent call' in the 2100 block of Amur Drive, near W William Cannon Drive and Menchaca Road on Thursday morning around 8:10 a.m.

Neighbors tell FOX 7 that they saw a man with an AK-47 yelling through a fence. They say they called police after the man noticed them recording video and pointed his assault rifle at them.

"I was gone for about an hour this morning," one resident in the neighborhood said.

During that time, her neighbor was apparently looking for her.

"I could hear lots of loud shouting from my upstairs bedroom window," Austin resident Lynsey Liebig said.

Liebig said she went to see what was going on and a man was across the way. "He had a gun in his hand," Liebig said, "He was telling the neighbor, get out here, get out here."

After a while, Liebig said he must have seen her in the window.

"He turned what I didn’t know at the time, now I know it was an AK-47, turned it at me, that’s when I ran and called 911," Liebig said.

Law enforcement arrived and found the man in his backyard.

"The male was wearing body armor and was carrying an assault rifle," Austin Police PIO Jose Mendez said.

The man then went inside his home.

"A reverse 911 call was sent to local residents advising them to shelter in place and a local elementary school was placed on lockdown out of precaution," Mendez said.

At 10:08 a.m., police say SWAT approached the home and the suspect came out with his hands up, ending the situation peacefully.

The 50-year-old man was arrested for felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the Travis County Jail. He may be facing additional charges. His name has not been released.

Detectives are also in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the home. Police say this appears to have been the result of a dispute between neighbors.

"Relief, I mean it’s definitely very scary, I’m glad that everything was very peaceful," a resident said.

Police say there was an incident in May 2023 involving the suspect that involved a firearm, but they did not know the specifics of the case.

Austin-Travis County EMS says medics evaluated one person during the incident, but no treatment was required.