An unidentified man opened fire at several people, leaving 13 injured, in late night mass shooing in Austin, Texas. The motive behind the shooting is yet to be ascertained by the investigating authorities.
Out of those injured, two victims are stated to be in critical condition. The 911 received a call about shots being fired at 400 E. 6th Street, near Trinity Street, at 1.24 am.
Who is the Shooter?
The suspected shooter is at large with the manhunt launched by the authorities. KXAN stated that Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon, while addressing a media briefing, said that the suspect may be a Black man with a "skinny" build and locs-style hair.
Adding that the incident appears to be isolated to the area, Chacon added that he could not say for certain that there was no additional public danger because the suspect is not in custody.
Shortly after the mass shooting, the Austin police department tweeted, "APD Officers working shooting downtown. Multiple victims with injuries. Media staging location will be E 9th street and IH 35 SVRD South bound (Valero gas station). Please stay away from 6th street. Will update with briefing time."
The Interim Police Chief said that his officers rushed six patients to the hospital in their patrol vehicles, while Austin-Travis County EMS paramedics took four. Three victims of the shootout were taken to the hospital in personal vehicles.
Witness Details the Mass Shooting
Speaking to the outlet, Matt Perlstein, one of the witnesses, said they were in line to a get into a bar on Sixth Street. Claiming that everything was fine and there was a several police men present all night due to the huge crowd in the area, Perlstein said that they heard the gunshots.
"We just heard like nine — a bunch — of gunshots going off. Everyone got on the ground. We couldn't even comprehend what was going on at the time," he said.
Calling the mass shooting "surreal", David Frost, another witness said, "It was pretty surreal. You couldn't even fathom something like that would happen outside."
Appealing for the witnesses to come forward, Chacon said that the investigators were reviewing surveillance video and other evidence from the area
