AUSTIN, Texas — It has been nearly a month since the mass shooting in Austin’s entertainment district. The tragedy claimed three young lives and injured over a dozen.
“It’s just so surreal,” said Anthony Guzman, an Austin resident.
The makeshift memorial outside Buford’s, a bar on West 6th Street, is gone now, but little mementos still linger, including pictures and red ribbon. Even though some time has passed, emotions remain high. Guzman said it’s still scary to think about.
“I actually work down the street at GSD&M. And so once the footage got released, it showed that the shooter was actually parked in my parking lot where I parked my car three times a week. But glad the first responders were there so quickly,” said Guzman.
Frightening moments captured on body camera footage released by Austin police less than a week after the shooting showed officers swiftly getting to the scene in 57 seconds and later killing the shooter.
“It was amazing to see that they were there in under a minute,” said Juliana Longoria, an Austin resident. “Truly like I think they saved so many lives.”
Public support for the department’s response carried over to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, who announced he would not seek any charges against the officers who took down the shooter. Garza, who campaigned in 2020 on stricter police accountability, called the responding officers heroes.
The Austin Police Department (APD) in its regular updates on the shooting credited its Counter Assault Strike Team (CAST) for the swift response. The unit started regularly going downtown in 2021. Assistant Chief Mike Chancellor said the department is becoming an example to other police forces.
“The alert center has reached out specifically and asked us to present on the concept of rescue task forces at their conference, and so we’ll be doing that. Other departments have reached out to find out, like, ‘Hey, how do I implement this and how do I do that?’” said Chancellor.
For APD, being as transparent as possible about the details of the shooting was just as important as the response. Chancellor said it’s a massive shift in law enforcement nationwide.
“It’s critical that the community be able to trust us. And so a lot of times when we can show that video, it’s important to get it out there,” said Chancellor.
This past year, 6th Street also got a major safety overhaul, moving big crowds off the street opening the road to traffic. APD said it helped aid their response.
“We can move resources, assets around much more freely,” said APD officer John Nicklason. “It’s beneficial in that it increases the response time.”
The rapid response time witnessed worldwide when shots rang out weeks ago is bringing a fresh perspective on both 6th Street and the police patrolling it.
“Knowing that they’re going to be here to respond as quickly as possible is very reassuring,” said Guzman.