Gunfire in Austin
Man fired 100-plus rounds downtown before shot ends life.
AUSTIN, Texas — A gunman fired more than 100 rounds at downtown buildings in Austin and tried to set the Mexican Consulate ablaze early Friday before he died during a confrontation with police, authorities said.
Some of the targeted buildings are near the popular Sixth Street entertainment district, where bars close at 2 a.m., about the same time the shootings began. Thousands of people are typically on the street at that time, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
“Many, many rounds were fired in downtown Austin,” Acevedo said. “With all the people on the streets, we’re very fortunate. I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased.”
Investigators identified the shooter as Larry McQuilliams, 49, of Austin. Police said he had a criminal record, but they didn’t release details.
The motivation for the violence was not known, though Acevedo said that based on the targets, he believed that the shootings were possibly a show of “violent, anti-government behavior.”
“If you look at the targets that were hit, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that’s a potential,” Acevedo said.
The FBI is assisting with the investigation, said Michelle Lee, a spokesman for the agency’s San Antonio office.
“The primary focus of the FBI is of course the federal courthouse and the Mexican consulate,” Lee said.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department issued a statement expressing “profound concern and condemnation” of the attack but also said “there is no evidence the shots were exclusively directed at our facility.”
Other targeted buildings included Austin police headquarters and the U.S. courthouse.
Acevedo said a sergeant, while holding the reins of two police horses after his patrol, shot the gunman just outside the main entrance to police headquarters. But Acevedo said it was not clear whether the officer’s shot was fatal or McQuilliams took his own life.
His targets were located throughout downtown Austin, and officers received multiple reports of gunfire, Acevedo said, adding that the entire shooting rampage lasted about 10 minutes from the first call.
Officers approached McQuilliams after he had been shot but noticed suspicious cylinders in his nearby vehicle. They also discovered he was wearing a vest they thought may have been rigged to explode, so officers retreated, and a bomb squad was called. It was later determined that none of the items were explosive.
The fire at the consulate was extinguished before any significant damage was done to the building. The federal courthouse’s guardhouse was shot several times, as was police headquarters, which Acevedo said was “extensively damaged.”
As a precaution, a police tactical team later went to the Austin apartment complex where the gunman lived. Some homes close to his apartment were evacuated.
Officers were seen removing about a dozen small tanks of propane, the type used in camping and the type police said was used in the attempt to set fire to the Mexican Consulate.
Adam Peyton, who lives in the area, said he awoke Friday to see Special Weapons and Tactics team vehicles and police officers on motorcycles in the southwest Austin neighborhood near the city’s wellknown Zilker Park. He said the area was “really laid back” and close-knit, where residents know each other and are often out walking their dogs.
One of McQuilliams’ neighbors said Friday that he had moved to Austin a year and a half ago looking for a fresh start that he failed to find.
McQuilliams had lived up north — court records and his Facebook page say Wichita, Kan. — but left because he felt his contributions were not appreciated by his employer there, said Katie Matlack, who lived four doors down from McQuilliams.
“He was a very kind person. Everyone in the building knew him,” Matlack said. “I think he was just frustrated at every turn.”
He did not strike everyone that way, however.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Charles Witt, who lives in a nearby condominium complex, said after the shooting. “When I heard the SWAT team was next door, I said ‘Wow, I bet this is the bicycle guy.’”
Witt said McQuilliams would cut through his property on his bike to get home.
“He didn’t make eye contact,” Witt said. “Seemed kind of angry. He didn’t say hello and didn’t appear at all interest at all in knowing who his neighbors were.”
But Matlack said said McQuilliams, a Renaissance fair enthusiast and martial artist, took care of neighbors’ pets when they were away. Matlack said she saw him every couple of days while walking her dog.
He was also cynical about government, according to Matlack and to McQuilliams’ Facebook page.
His past time behind bars meant a series of failed background checks that led to a nearby carwash being the only place that would hire him, Matlack said. She said she thought he lived off savings he took with him to Austin. The frustration seemed to wear on him, Matlack said, though he did not strike her as significantly unbalanced.
“We were all comfortable with him, but we could sense that he was unhappy,” Matlack said. “We all knew him as a gentle soul trying to find his place in something.”