Protesters were marching along Austin’s Congress Avenue on Saturday night when a vehicle turned onto the road and attempted to drive through the crowd. Shots rang out shortly thereafter, leaving one man fatally wounded.
Initial reports from witnesses and police indicate that the shooter opened fire from the driver’s seat of his car at an armed protester who had approached the vehicle.
It remains unclear why the man drove into the crowd.
Both the victim and suspect are white males.
Austin Police Public Information Officer Katrina Ratcliff said during a Saturday night briefing, “Initial reports indicate the victim may have been carrying a rifle and approached suspect vehicle. Suspect was in a vehicle and shot at the victim. Suspect was detained and is cooperating with officers.”
James Sasinowski, a protester, told Honest Austin that marchers had gathered “to stand in solidarity with Portland. It grew naturally and evolved into a BLM march…”
Sasinowski wrote in a text message, “As we were marching north up Congress, right as we were moving into the 4th Street intersection, a jet black luxury sedan that was headed east across 4th Street attempted to turn right onto Congress to head south.”
“By the nature of our criss-crossing paths the march was somewhat in the way of this vehicle’s turning path. Instead of waiting for the protesters to move beyond this space or slowly moving so we could make room for them, the driver quickly accelerated and almost ran over some protesters,” the protester added.
Sasinowski blamed the driver for hitting some protesters as he turned onto Congress Avenue, which angered them and caused them to surround the vehicle: “They (the driver) quickly slowed down about halfway through the turn only to speed back up to get onto Congress, again almost running over protesters. This time many protesters started banging on their vehicle and some initially got in front of (the driver’s) path to force them to stop, which they did.”
“A crowd rapidly grew around the vehicle and people were trying to get a picture of the license plate. At this point I was probably about 10-15 feet north and about 5 feet east of the northeast corner of the now south-facing vehicle. I kept looking back over my shoulder and then forward again.”
The driver opened fire “within ten seconds” of being stopped, according to Sasinowski.
Several key elements of this account are corroborated by videos of the incident posted to social media, which show the car turning onto Congress Avenue into an oncoming crowd, and gunfire very shortly thereafter. In a video taken by an activist named Hiram Gilberto, who has filmed many of the protests in Austin, eight shots are heard in two bursts. Gilberto, who was filming, then began to run. On the video, other marchers are heard screaming and fleeing.
“I Heard Tires Screech”
Protesters later identified the victim as Garrett Foster. Hiram Gilberto said in a video published to the livestream platform Twitch, “He was a nice guy. He was down here every single night.”
Gilberto added, “What happened was we were walking down Congress and we were crossing an intersection. I heard tires screech, and it seemed like from what I saw that there was a car that might have ran over protesters. So I was running toward the car because I wanted to film if there was anyone that got ran over or if anything crazy happened.”
“And as soon as I was getting close I heard the gunshots.”
Sasinowski confirmed to Honest Austin that the victim was carrying a rifle before he was shot, but couldn’t say what exactly had unfolded in the final moments before the shooting started: “Garrett was brandishing a large rifle of some sort, as were others. Texas is an open carry state and everyone decided to come freely to support. Garrett was somewhere in the middle of the crowd near the driver side of the vehicle, but I was too far from the action and there were too many people for me to know exactly where he was.”
Giberto said through tears, “The most heartbreaking thing tonight is that a really nice guy, someone that I cared about deeply and who was here every night just doing his best, just trying to be a part of the movement got shot.”
The incident took place at around 9:52 p.m. The victim was taken to Dell Seton Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
‘Mr. Foster May Have Pointed His Weapon at the Driver”
After leaving the scene, the shooter called 911. According to Chief Brian Manley, who filmed a video briefing about the incident, the caller stated that he had shot someone who had approached the driver’s window of his vehicle and pointed a rifle at him.
“At the scene of the shootings officers spoke with multiple witnesses that described several different versions of the incident… Mr. Foster, who was holding an AK-47 type assault rifle, approached the driver’s side window as others in the crowd began striking the vehicle.”
Manley continued, “Gunshots were fired from inside the vehicle at Mr. Foster. During the initial investigation of this incident, it appears that Mr. Foster may have pointed his weapon at the driver of this vehicle prior to being shot.”
Second Shooter
After the first volley of gunfire, another person nearby drew a concealed handgun and fired at the shooter’s vehicle as he drove away. “This individual drew their handgun and fired multiple shots at the vehicle as it drove away,” said the Austin Police Chief.
Manley didn’t say whether anybody was hit by that gunfire. However, according to the earlier briefing by Ofc. Ratcliff, the police spokesperson, no one else was injured into the incident.
Both of the shooters have been released pending further investigation.
The weapons fired by the driver and bystander, and the gun that was being carried by Foster, were secured by police as evidence.
Manley asked anyone who might have video of the events to come forward.
Mayor Steve Adler said, “In a split moment, three guns were drawn, eight shots were fired, and a protester was tragically killed. This is horrible as is all gun violence. There are too many guns. Our City is shaken and, like so many in our community, I’m heartbroken and stunned.”
Austin has had 28 homicides so far this year, an increase of over 70% from last year. Aggravated robberies are up 14% and robberies up 16%.
Chief Manley commented, “We are seeing a significant increase in violent crime this year and this is very important as we engage in community conversations about policing and the future of policing, that we ensure that we do keep in mind that one of the key functions of a police department is the safety of our community and combatting violent crime.”
“And even at our current staffing levels we’re facing significant challenges in this area. So again, we are heartbroken over the loss of Mr. Foster last night, it is actively being investigated and ongoing in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.”
This article has been updated after publication to include information from a Sunday evening briefing by Chief Brian Manley.
