Austin man shot and killed after daylong standoff with police over long grass

(Texas News Radio) — An Austin man was shot and killed by police after shooting at officers, prompting a daylong standoff with police Wednesday because of a code enforcement issue.

Austin police chief Joseph Chacon said code enforcement and Austin police officers went to a home on Pinkney Lane in southwest Austin at around 9:15 a.m. to issue a search warrant and begin yard work to correct the code enforcement issue.

About five minutes later, officers on the scene reported on the radio that gunshots were coming from the house.

SWAT officers, along with mental health and crisis negotiators, were called and arrived at the scene at around 10:45 a.m.  An area school was also put on lockdown.

A standoff ensued with the man, who refused to communicate with police.

At around 3:20 p.m., officers had gone into the backyard of the house, where they were shot at by the man inside.  A robot then went in through the front of the house and saw that a fire had been set inside.  Chacon said more gunshots could be heard, but it was not clear where they were coming from.

Police continued trying to get the man outside of the house.  After about 20 minutes, believing the man may have been overcome by the smoke that had been filling the house, the fire department came in to try putting out the blaze.

Instead, the garage door opened and the man appeared with weapons in hand.  A SWAT officer shot the man and he fell to the ground.

He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at around 4 p.m.  The fire department went in and put out the fire, while the area school’s lockdown was then lifted.

Chacon said the SWAT officer will now be on standard administrative duty and two investigations — a criminal and administrative — will begin into the events that happened at the house.

Police are awaiting notification of next of kin before releasing the suspect’s name.  No other injuries were reported.

Chacon said the code enforcement issue was long grass and had been an ongoing issue on the property.

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