A 42-year-old man was killed Friday evening after a police officer shot at him as the man drove away from officers outside a Southeast Austin apartment complex, Chief Brian Manley said.
Officers arrived at the East Oltorf Street and South Pleasant Valley Road residential parking lot after someone called 911 at 6:30 p.m. to say that two people in the vehicle might be doing drugs and that the man in the car had a gun.
Police thought this man might have been involved in a burglary and an incident in which a suspect evaded police, Manley said. The officers called for backup while they approached the man who was inside the car, the chief said.
Investigators have not confirmed whether the man was involved in any recent crimes.
The man initially got out of the vehicle, but he got back into his car when an officer fired a round from a beanbag gun at him, Manley said. The man closed the door and started to pull out of the parking lot when a different officer fired his rifle.
The car then crashed into a parked vehicle, and the man was taken to the hospital, where he died at 7:26 p.m., Manley said.
The officers were not injured, police said.
Investigators were working to obtain a search warrant Friday night to determine whether the man had a gun with him in the car, Manley said.
Manley declined to “explain what these officers were thinking” when asked Friday to discuss the officers’ mindset.
“That’s obviously the reason we’re going to do this investigation,” he said. “The officers will explain their thought process and their actions taken.”
A woman who was also in the car with the man was not physically harmed, and police took her into custody after the shooting, Manley said.
As with any officer-involved shooting, officials will conduct a criminal and internal investigation into the incident, the chief said.
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