Miguel Liscano
The Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Tex, — The first thing officers saw when they broke into the Southeast Austin apartment Monday evening was a bloodied woman holding a toddler whose throat had been slashed, police said.
The woman, who was handcuffed, motioned with her eyes to a hall, and police followed her signal, Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
That’s when a man emerged from around a corner wielding a knife, and the officers told him to put it down.
Instead, Acevedo said, he raised it, and one of the officers fired two shots, killing him.
“The officers were within eight to 10 feet of the suspect, fearing for their lives, and had no other choice,” he said.
The 3-year-old girl was in critical condition Monday night at Dell Children’s Medical Center, Acevedo said. The dead man’s name was not released. The officer’s name also was not released. It was unclear whether both shots hit the man.
Just after 6 p.m., the officers were called to the University Canyon Apartments, 4404 E. Oltorf St., after receiving a report that a child had been stabbed.
The shooting occurred in the man’s apartment in Building 7, but police did not give the unit number. The complex, which a brochure says caters to college students, has 16 buildings that each have 12 apartments, an employee of the complex’s management company said.
The handcuffed woman, the girl’s mother, had no visible injuries, Acevedo said. He said he did not know why she was handcuffed.
Acevedo said that the woman and the man once had a romantic relationship but that he was not the father of the child. He had called her over to pick up some of her things because he was moving, Acevedo said.
It “appears to have been a ruse to get her in here so he could do harm to her and her child,” Acevedo said.
In accordance with police policy, an internal investigation and a criminal investigation into the shooting will be conducted, Acevedo said. The officer who fired was placed on administrative leave.
In June, city officials announced that the U.S. Department of Justice would review how Austin police officers use force, particularly against minorities. The announcement came after a series of controversial police shootings.
The man who was shot Monday was black; the race or ethnicity of the officer was not known.
Acevedo said the shooting appears to be justified. “In this situation, all appearances are the officers did a good job responding,” he said. “And I believe they probably saved the lives, hopefully, of that 3-year-old child and that woman.”
Copyright 2007 The Austin American-Statesman