AUSTIN (KXAN) — Body camera video released Wednesday shows the events that led Austin police to shoot an armed man who had holed himself up in a southeast Austin gas station and made Molotov cocktails.
APD released two 911 audio files, one police radio traffic audio file and two body cam videos, surveillance footage from inside the the gas station and one drone video. The body cameras were worn by Officers James Fabian and Ryan Nichols.
Police said Nichols is the one who discharged his department-issued firearm. He has 16 years of service with the department. Nichols was placed on administrative leave, per APD protocol.
Editor’s Note: The video linked is from police officer body camera video released by the Austin Police Department Wednesday, June 5, 2024. The video contains sensitive material. Viewer discretion is advised.
All of the videos can be viewed on APD’s YouTube channel.
Fabian was not considered a “subject officer” in the shooting. Police said his body cam footage was released so the public could “better understand the sequence of events,” the release said.
Police followed a stolen vehicle as it turned into the gas station on May 21, according to a media briefing that day. The suspect, later identified as 35-year-old Alfonso Gonzales, also shot at officers multiple times, poured lighter fluid over the counter and made suicidal threats, police said. They also said he told them he knew someone else — an employee — was inside the gas station.
Around 4:50 p.m., APD said Nichols fired his department-issued gun, hitting Gonzales. Officers then went into the store to rescue the employee who was inside.
Around 5:01 p.m., Gonzales was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:21 p.m.
Police said no one else, officers or the public, was injured during the incident. APD said the case remains under investigation but no charges are pending.
SWAT, as well as the Austin Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team, responded to the gas station near the intersection of Salt Springs Drive and Thaxton Road, an area east of Interstate 35 between William Cannon Drive and Slaughter Lane.
Two investigations are ongoing into this case. The APD Special Investigations Unit and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office are conducting a criminal investigation, while the APD Internal Affairs Unit is working on an administrative investigation related to the officer’s use of force.
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