Mass shooting in Austin, Texas leaves at least 13 injured, 2 critical
- A mass shooting incident has been reported in downtown Austin early Saturday
- At least 13 people have been injured, 2 of them are critical
- The initial report of shots fired came in at 1.24 am local time
At least 13 people have been injured in a mass shooting incident in a crowded entertainment district in downtown Austin early Saturday, media reports said.
“I’m happy to report no one has died,” interim Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon told NBC at the scene of the incident around 400 E. 6th Street, a famous bar and restaurant district.
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The initial report of shots fired came in at 1.24 am (local time), he added, noting that the roadway was closed at the time of the incident to keep people and vehicle traffic out.
The gunman or shooters are still on the loose, and authorities are scrambling to review a slew of video from bystanders and other cameras around the incident in the hopes of identifying any suspects. According to USA Today, authorities believe the shooter fired at random.
USA Today reported that 11 of the 13 persons wounded were in stable condition and two were in serious condition.
“We do have two patients in critical condition,” NBC reported him as saying.
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“We have a total of 11 people transported to one hospital, one was transported to a different hospital and one person reported to an urgent care clinic. So there is a total of 13 shooting victims.”
“Our officers responded very quickly,” the interim chief said, as quoted by NBC. “They were able to immediately begin life-saving measures for many of these patients, including applications of tourniquets, applications of chest seals.”
Chacon appealed for witnesses, saying the motivation for the shooting was “unclear,” and that investigators were analysing surveillance footage from the vicinity.
Later on Saturday, Austin police issued a statement, “At this time, this appears to be an isolated incident.”
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The event is being investigated by aggravated assault and homicide police teams, as well as a gang unit, according to Chacon. The FBI’s terrorist task force has also been alerted and was on the site, as per NBC.
Personnel was clearing the area, according to Austin’s Emergency Medical Services Department tweet.
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