SWAT officers arrest man with ‘assault-like rifle’ in South Austin
Police arrested a man in a South Austin neighborhood after he threatened his neighbors with what officers called an “assault-like rifle” Thursday morning.
The man was taken into custody without incident by a SWAT team. No injuries or deaths were reported. Police did not identify the man but said he was in his 50s.
Police arrived at the scene by 8:10 a.m. and placed a call for a SWAT team at 8:30 a.m., according to Austin police Cpl. Jose Mendez. Police ordered a reverse-911 call and placed the neighborhood on lockdown for about two hours until the gunman was detained. Principal Stacy Foss of nearby Cunningham Elementary School sent an email to parents saying that the school went into a “secure” response, meaning that activities continued but no one was allowed in or out of the building.
Lynsey Liebig, a resident of the neighborhood, said she called 911 at 7:50 a.m., when she spotted the man wielding a rifle and yelling at neighbors to come out of their homes. Liebig said the suspect pointed his firearm at her while she was standing by her bedroom window, in the 2100 block of Amur Drive, near Menchaca Road and William Cannon Drive. She said she called her neighbors to warn them.
Mendez said the suspect was wearing body armor but, when asked, did not specify what type of rifle the suspect was holding nor whether it was loaded.
Mendez said the suspect had a previous runin with law enforcement for an incident involving a firearm in May 2023, but he did not provide specifics.
According to neighbors, the gunman previously had verbal altercations with other residents, but the incidents had never escalated to this level.
Law enforcement officials are in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the gunman’s home, Mendez said.
The gunman has been charged with one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is being held at the Travis County Jail. More charges are currently pending, Mendez said.