AUSTIN, Texas — A 19-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly using Instagram to sell guns to Austin ISD students, according to an arrest affidavit.
Vince Nguyen was booked into the Travis County Correctional Complex at 12:56 p.m. March 31 on a third-degree felony firearm smuggling charge, according to online jail records. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.
The investigation began Jan. 27 when an AISD school resource officer alerted Austin police detectives that an individual on Instagram was selling firearms to juvenile students at AISD schools, the affidavit says. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the account and received records from Meta identifying the operator as Nguyen.
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Records showed 137 conversations between Dec. 24, 2025, and Jan. 13, 2026, in which Nguyen allegedly coordinated the sale and transfer of multiple firearms, sometimes out of his workplace, Trnd Setters Barbershop. At least one transaction took place at his home on Copperfield Drive.
Investigators say Nguyen was already on bond conditions from a prior unlawful carry of a weapon charge at a school that explicitly prohibited him from possessing firearms. Under Texas law, he is also too young to lawfully purchase or sell a handgun.
CBS Austin reached out to Austin ISD for a statement.