AUSTIN, Texas (KBTX) — For many Texas A&M students, a weekend trip to Austin’s Sixth Street is part of the college experience. Whether it’s for a fraternity formal or just a Saturday away from College Station, there are often traces of Aggie maroon in the entertainment district.
“We go to Austin every spring,” said Evan Autrey, a sophomore finance major at Texas A&M. “Vibes were very high. We wanted to take a break from school… so to get away and have some fun with our friends was something we were all looking forward to.”
But early Sunday morning, that tradition was shaken by gunfire from the shooting on Sixth Street.
What began as a night of celebration turned into a scene of chaos and terror.
Around 2 a.m. this morning, Sunday, March 1, 2026, Austin Police (APD) officers responded to an Active Attack in the 700 block of West 6th St. Three people are confirmed to be deceased, including the suspect, and 14 additional people were injured.
To our community, if you are… pic.twitter.com/VAmPyuM1Wd
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) March 1, 2026
For the Aggies in town, the danger was closer than many realized. Jake Manzi, a junior financial planning major, recalled the chilling timing of his walk back to his hotel room.
“I walked past Buford’s, like, probably like an hour before everything transpired,” he said.
While Autrey and Manzi were back at their hotel when the shooting began, the terror was delivered in real-time via text messages from friends still on the street. Autrey’s roommate was at the bar next door to the shooting.
“He was pretty shaken up,” Autrey said. “He was texting us as everything was happening.”
As news spread throughout the hotel, the Texas A&M students filled the hallways, checking in on one another, Autrey said. When he found friends and their dates locked out of their rooms and “bawling their eyes out” in the aftermath, he didn’t hesitate to help.
“We invited them into our room… until they figured out how to unlock their door and get situated,” Autrey said.
The fear didn’t stop in Austin as students scrambled to reach their families. Autrey called his parents at 3 a.m. “I didn’t want y’all to hear about it in the morning and freak out,” Autrey told them. Their reaction was immediate, Autrey said: “They were terrified… they were very thankful that I called.”
An Austin police officer guards the scene on West 6th Street at West Avenue after a shooting, Sunday March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas.(Ricardo B. Brazziell | Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
As the students returned to College Station on Sunday, the mood was somber.
“It was weird because it could have been any of us,” Manzi said.
The tragedy has already sparked conversations about the future of this Aggie tradition. Autrey said there are “rumors just about, like, potentially changing it up” regarding the location of future formals for safety reasons.
For now, the students are left with a new perspective on their weekend getaways.
“It just kind of reiterates the importance of keeping aware of your surroundings,” Autrey said. “It just makes you thankful.”
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