Police in Austin, Texas are hunting for a suspected gunman after thirteen people were injured in a shooting incident early Saturday morning. Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) first reported the incident on their Twitter account and Austin Police Department (APD) then confirmed the shooting at 400 E 6th St.
ATCEMS tweeted about the incident on Saturday, with their latest update saying: "4 patients transported by #ATCEMSMedics, 6 patients transported by APD, 2 patients transported by private vehicle. AVOID 6TH ST AREA DUE TO ACTIVE INVESTIGATION. Media brief to be held at the Valero at 9th/ I-35, time to be determined. More to follow."
APD's Twitter account reported: "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."
Interim Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon held a press conference at around 4.00 a.m. local time and provided some details about the incident but the suspect has not yet been identified or apprehended, according to ABC News. However, the suspect is believed to be a man.
Chacon said that 13 people were injured in the shooting in the entertainment district of downtown Austin. Two of the victims were in critical condition but there were no fatalities.
Eleven of the victims were taken to one hospital, a 12th victim was taken to another hospital and the remaining injured person went to an urgent care facility to be treated for gunshot wounds.
The shooting began just before 1.30 a.m. on Saturday morning on the city's 6th street, which is home to bars and restaurants.
Chacon said the street was barricaded in order to close it to traffic after the shooting and there was no initial information about how the incident began or what the motivation might have been.
"Our officers responded very quickly," Chacon told the press. "They were able to immediately begin life-saving measures for many of these patients, including applications of tourniquets; applications of chest seals."
Some of the injured were brought to hospital by officers using their police cruisers because of the difficulty of getting an ambulance onto the scene and containing the crowds in the popular part of downtown.
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.
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) June 12, 2021
The shooter had not been arrested at the time of writing and Chacon said police had a "not very detailed" description of the suspect.
The investigation is ongoing and involves detectives of the Aggravated Assault, Homicide, Organized Crime and Gang units, according to CNN. Chacon said the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Team is also on scene, but the motive and details for the shooting remained unclear.
"It's not clear at this point what sparked this off, but out of an abundance of caution, we have notified the FBI's joint terrorism task force," Chacon said.
Newsweek has asked APD and ATCEMS for comment.
UPDATE 6/12/21 07.25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more information.
