4-year-old girl killed in Target shooting

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

A tragic image showed the 4-year-old girl who was tragically shot dead by a crazed gunman outside of Target moments after she watched her grandfather murdered. Astrid Chow was shot in front of her grandmother along with grandfather Adam Chow, 65, in the parking lot of the Target in Austin. The shooter- 32-year-old Ethan Blaine Nieneker - also killed Target worker Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, 24. Nieneker was subdued by police tasers as he ran naked out of a 'porta potty' after he fled the store in northern Austin on Monday.
Chief Lisa Davis alleged at a press conference on Tuesday that Nieneker first 'randomly' shot Machuca about 2.15pm as he collected trolleys. The Hawaiian shirt-wearing gunman then fired at a black jeep that tried to evade his shot, before turning his gun on Chow's grey Toyota 4-Runner. Chow was shot in the driver's seat, then Nieneker fired into the back seats - hitting the granddaughter Astrid, Davis alleged. The mortally wounded grandfather's wife Doris tried to carry the girl to safety, when Nieneker pushed them out of the car and drove away.
Austin homicide detective Nathan Sexton said Nieneker chose his victims 'completely randomly' and used a handgun given to him by a family member. 'He said that he was Jesus and there was no real reason whatsoever given,' he said. About 2.20pm he pulled up next to a water truck parked by the side of the Mopac Expressway, allegedly bashed its driver, and pulled him out of the vehicle. Nieneker tried to drive the truck away but wasn't able to, instead chasing the truck driver away with his pistol before returning to the Toyota.
Five minutes later he crashed into a Volkswagen before landing on top of an Infiniti SUV, then allegedly attacked and carjacked the Volkswagen driver. Nieneker only drove that car until 2.34pm when he tried to steal a Waymo car, but failed and got back in the Volkswagen. Minutes later, a church acquaintance of Nieneker claimed a brick came flying through the window of his house on La Casa Drive after the gunman threw it. Nieneker's alleged rampage continued until 2.58pm when he was spotted walking naked through a backyard down the street from the one he bricked.
He was seen running into a 'porta potty', then running away again before police found him, still nude and holding a Bible, and demanded he surrender. When he refused, police fired their tasers and he was arrested at 3.06pm. 'The investigation shows that Nieneker conducted these violent offenses of shooting at multiple victims, killing three victims, and destroying multiple vehicles, in the span of less than one hour,' police said.
Chow was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.39pm and his granddaughter at. 2.50pm. Doris only suffered minor injuries. Nieneker was charged with two counts of capital murder for Chow and his granddaughter first-degree felony murder of Machuca. His booking photo at the Travis County Jail showed him staring straight at the camera with several fresh cuts on his face. Sexton said Nieneker gave no motive for the shooting and his state of mind at the time was still being investigated.
'We're still looking into the drug portion of it. He could have been under the influence of narcotics, it might not necessarily be all attributed to mental illness, so we're still investigating all of that,' he said. Davis admitted there were failures by authorities to follow up on mental health callouts, which may have prevented the shooting. 'This man had some serious issues, and I think about the systems that failed... there were some serious failures here,' she said. Nieneker had two emergency mental health detentions of up to 72 hours in 2018, but was not committed either time.
How Nieneker got the gun, which he left in Chow's car, from a relative is being investigated, and could lead to charges against his family. 'Where does someone with this capacity to do this get a weapon and when does a family members feel comfortable giving someone with these issues a weapon?' Davis said. Nieneker lived alone and worked at a nearby restaurant, police said. Davis said police received calls about the shooting 15 minutes after it began and rushed to the scene within four minutes.
Social media photos of Nieneker showed him grinning with friends at social events, posing while wearing a Covid-style mask by a trash bin, and posing beside a fireplace. Another Facebook image showed the alleged gunman holding a large brown leaf in front of his face and creepily peering over it, and a fifth photo had Nieneker wearing an American flag as a bandana. Davis told reporters on Monday evening that Nieneker has a history of mental illness and a prior criminal history. Records obtained by the Daily Mail showed he was arrested numerous times since 2011, serving short stints in jail for some of them.
Nieneker began with two days in jail for marijuana possession in 2011, then two years probation (which was later revoked) for felony criminal mischief. Just five weeks later, he was jailed for 120 days for a DWI, and two family violence charges were dismissed. The next year he faced court for felony domestic assault, which was reduced to misdemeanor with a deferred adjudication in a pela deal. But he couldn't stay out of trouble so he served 45 days in jail and two years of probation for that crime.
Two months later, in July 2016, he was jailed for 60 days for breaching a protection order, and another 90 days from May 2017 for a second DWI. Finally, in 2019, a felony domestic assault charge - which could have led to a long sentence as a repeat offender - was abandoned in 2022 when the victim couldn't be found. He spent time in jail for skipping bail during the case. Relative calm followed and Nieneker didn't pick up another charge before his alleged Target rampage, and friends thought he may have turned a corner. 'I went to high school with Ethan. Hung out with him on the 4th of July this year, first time seeing him in a few years,' a friend shared online.
'Used to see him every now and again at this popular swimming spot in Austin. I was pretty optimistic about him when I saw him on the 4th. 'He had become sober and we talked for a while about him wanting to learn more technical things and try to build a technical career working with circuitry and wiring. Overall normal and positive interaction. 'Blew my mind seeing this news today.' Shoppers and employees at Target said they ran for cover when they heard gunshots ring out in the parking lot.
'I was inside the store, but then I hear on the radio like shots fired, so then they just told us 'active shooter...' so we just ran outside, we told guests to get out,' Target employee Freyen Sagastume told KXAN. 'I thought that this only happened like in the news and stuff and then like I kind of just froze at first, but then I saw everyone running.' Meanwhile, at the nearby Jiffy Lube, employees hunkered down and locked the store's doors when they became aware there was a shooting outside. One mechanic, Paul Smith, told Spectrum Local News 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,' he said. Target said it would provide counseling to staff struggling with witnessing the shooting. 'We are devastated by the violence that occurred today at our store in Austin, Texas. Our hearts are with the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, our team in Austin and all those impacted by this tragedy,' the company said.