SAN ANTONIO — Officials in Austin gave an update Tuesday on this weekend’s mass shooting as details continue to pour in after gunfire erupted on Sixth Street in the Texas capital's entertainment district.
Shots were fired earl Saturday morning into a large crowd on the 400 block of Sixth Street. One man, Douglas Kantor, later died from his injuries, and 13 others are recovering.
Police believe the shooting was an isolated incident and that most of the victims were innocent bystanders.
“Our investigators have literally been working around the clock on this,” said Austin’s interim police chief, Joseph Chacon, while giving reporters an update during a press conference about the city’s new camping ordinance. “I’m very proud of the way that our investigators stepped up on this."
Police have two suspects in custody. Most recently arrested was 17-year-old Jeremiah Roshaun Leland James Tabb, of Killeen. He’s facing aggravated assault charges.
“He was at a summer school class when Killeen ISD police department took him into custody without incident,” Chacon said.
He said Austin PD will not be releasing information about the other suspect.
“I can tell you he is under the age of 17 and a juvenile and we don’t release that information,” he said.
According to the department, extra shifts of officers were called in for the weekend to provide security for the Republic of Texas motorcycle rally, one of the city’s first major events as it opens from the pandemic.
“Because of the additional crowd size that ROT rally brings, we brought in an extra evening shift to work, so I actually had an extra evening shift to work so I actually had an extra, I had four evening shifts total, plus the night shift.”
Even with the extra staffing, Chacon expressed concern over an ongoing staff shortage within APD.
“We really need to have all of our shifts staffed to 100% so that when we have incidents happen like this, other parts of the city don’t suffer,” he said.