A resident in Austin, Texas, blasted a home invader on Wednesday after the suspect had shot a policeman and a woman earlier that morning.
The wounded suspect, 30-year-old Brandon Thompson, was later charged with attempted capital murder of a peace officer and burglary of a residence, which are both first-degree felonies, KXAN-TV in Austin reported Thursday.
It began early Wednesday morning, when Senior Police Officer Adam Reinhart was on patrol near Zilker Park in Austin.
At some point, Reinhart had identified a vehicle that earlier had been reported stolen.
Reinhart stayed by the car, awaiting a tow truck, while other officers investigated the nearby park.
“The tow company arrived, and the officer was assisting with that, doing his paperwork, and saw two individuals start to exit from the lining of the trees,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Wednesday.
Davis said the two people were male and female, and that the female walked five or six feet ahead of the male.
The officer instructed both to show their hands, which is when the male drew a pistol and fired, striking the woman in the back of the head.
“He continued to fire, striking our officer. At that point, our officer was able to pull his weapon and return fire,” Davis said.
The suspect then took off into the brush.
A fellow officer rushed Reinhart to the hospital, while another officer waited for EMS to pick up the injured woman, who also made it to the hospital.
Davis said that Reinhart remained in stable condition but that the woman was not expected to survive, according to KXAN-TV.
Hours later, officers spotted the suspect near an elementary school in the neighborhood of Barton Hills.
Officers chased the suspect, who fled into a nearby home, which is where the homeowner shot him.
“I believe he was shot in the arm and in the leg,” Davis said, adding that the suspect was in stable condition.
Before the incident, the homeowner had received a text message from the Austin Police Department, notifying nearby residents to shelter in place.
“‘I want to tell you, that shelter-in-place saved my life, it saved our family. Because of that, I prepared,’” the homeowner reportedly told Davis.
But the system wasn’t perfect and reportedly experienced a glitch.
At first, the alert said to shelter in place, but it was prematurely lifted and downgraded to an “avoid the area” alert, according to KXAN-TV.
“I have serious concerns about why that happened myself, and I know there’s questions about that, and I will get to the bottom of why that happened, and ensure that there’s processes in place to ensure that it does not happen again. So, that never should have been changed,” Davis said.
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