Bodycam footage shows moment police fatally shot man at Northwest Austin apartment complex
Correction: The story originally misstated how many times the victim was shot. It is unclear how many times the man was hit by gunshots due to the ongoing investigation. Clara Ash, a spokesperson for the Austin Police Department, clarified that the calls placed on April 26 were non-emergency calls, and police responded to the 911 calls placed on April 27.
Two Austin police officers fired five gunshots at a 44-year-old man, killing him at a Northwest Austin apartment complex April 27 after he purportedly pointed a firearm at police, according to the body-worn camera footage of three officers at the scene.
The footage was released 10 business days after the shooting, per the Austin Police Department’s protocol.
The footage shows the moment officers Adam Reinhart and Kai Finch fatally shot Thomas Dray Price, previously identified by Austin police as the victim of the shooting. The bodycam footage of a third officer, Peter Miller, was also released. Miller did not fire his gun.
There were no injuries to bystanders or officers, interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said during a news conference hours after the shooting.
The incident began April 26 when city services received calls non-emergency calls at 11:34 and 11:42 p.m. regarding loud noise and music coming from cars on the north side of the Summer Grove apartment complex at 7905 San Felipe Blvd., near U.S. 183 and McNeil Drive, in Williamson County, according to Clara Ash, a spokesperson for the department. Henderson initially stated the calls had been emergency calls.
Law enforcement received several 911 calls, starting at 12:14 a.m., reporting that Price was armed and walking around the complex, a news release said. Callers said they heard gunshots and that Price was holding four to five men at gunpoint, the release said.
Police arrived at the scene at 12:22 a.m. and began to search the complex for Price and any wounded individuals. The body-cam footage shows police telling one man to walk backward toward them with his hands above his head. He is heard giving officers a description of Price and saying that another witness heard Price saying he wanted to shoot a dog several days before. Officers then found several other men, though it was undetermined whether they were the same men held at gunpoint by Price, Ash said.
About five minutes later, Price is seen emerging from the breezeway of a building. Police said he was holding a firearm, though the bodycam footage is too grainy to show one.
Police, including Reinhart and Finch, can be heard telling Price to put his hands up and drop his gun as he walks into view of several officers. The commands were repeated in Spanish. Police said Price did not comply with the officers’ commands. The bodycam footage shows Reinhart and Finch shooting their semi-automatic firearms at least five times.
The video cuts out before showing Price receiving life-saving aid or being put in handcuffs. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:39 a.m., a press release said.
After the incident, a SWAT team was called to the apartment from which Price had emerged, Henderson previously said, but no one else was found.
No charges have been filed in connection with the shooting, a news release said. Per department protocol, Finch and Reinhart have been placed on administrative duty.
Police declined to comment on the officers’ weapons or on details pertaining to the investigation, citing the ongoing investigation.
Two investigations of the shooting are being conducted: a criminal probe by the Police Department special investigations unit in conjunction with the Williamson County district attorney's office and an administrative inquiry managed by the Police Department internal affairs unit, with direction from the city's Office of Police Oversight.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Bodycam footage shows police kill man at Northwest Austin apartments
