Shooter kills three in a Target parking lot in Austin before being captured, police say

Yahoo

3 days ago

At least three people, including a child, are dead after a gunman opened fire in a Target parking lot in Austin, Texas, before stealing two cars and being tasered by police, authorities said.
The suspect is a White man in his 30s, with 'a mental health history' and prior criminal offenses, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said in a news conference. Authorities have not released his name.
A motive has not been determined and it's not immediately clear what led to the shooting.
Police were called at 2:15 p.m. local time Monday and arrived at the Target parking lot where they found three people shot, Davis said.
Two of the people died on scene and a third person was declared dead at the hospital, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Chief Robert Luckritz said. A fourth person was also treated for non-gunshot related injuries, he added.
One of the victims who died at the scene was a child, while the other two victims were adults, said Captain Shannon Koesterer, said a public information officer for the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
The suspect fled the Target parking lot by stealing a car at the scene, then crashed it and stole a second car from a Volkswagen dealership, Davis said.
The man was captured about 20 miles away in south Austin after another person called police, Davis said. He was taken into custody after being tased.
'This is a very sad day for Austin. It's a very sad day for us all and my condolences go out to the families,' Davis said. She did not reveal the identities of the victims.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called the shooting 'a sickening, cowardly act of gun violence.'
'This is a devastating situation, and my heart is with the victims and their families,' he said in a post on X.
Target said in a statement it is 'devastated by the violence' at the Austin store and working with law enforcement on the investigation.
The shooting came during a busy time of year with back-to-school shopping underway for many families preparing for the upcoming academic year.
Lonnie Lee, 22, told the Associated Press she had visited the Target with her sister and was shocked to see the parking lot was cordoned off and filled with police.
'We got really, really lucky,' Lee said. 'And some people didn't.'
At a Jiffy Lube shop that shares its parking lot with the Target, employees locked the doors as soon as they became aware a shooting was taking place. Paul Smith, an employee at the oil change store, told the AP that he saw people running from their cars in the parking lot in a panic.
'I had just gotten back from the Target like a minute before,' Smith said.
Monday's shooting comes just over two weeks after an attack in a Walmart parking lot in Traverse City, Michigan, in which 42-year-old Bradford James Gille allegedly stabbed 11 people in what authorities described as 'random acts.'
All victims - aged between 29 and 84 - were expected to survive and Gille was charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assault with intent to murder.
This story has been updated with additional details.