AUSTIN, Texas — Flowers and candles were placed at a playground on Baden Lane after Austin police officers shot and killed a 17-year-old early Friday morning, an incident the Austin Police Department has classified as a suicide-by-cop shooting.

The shooting happened across the street from where neighbor Amairelys Flores lives. “It upset me when we found out in the morning what was going on,” Flores said.

Flores described hearing multiple rounds of gunfire. “The first time was like six, seven shots at the same time, like a couple seconds later, again, the same thing, like repeatedly,” she said.

Austin police reported that the teenager who was shot was also the person who called 9-1-1 Friday morning to report a suspicious person who may have had a gun. Flores questioned the response and said the teen may have needed help. “4 a.m., you see a boy right there and what are you gonna do?” Flores said. “Probably that boy needs help exactly.”

The Austin Police Department said Friday that the Office of Police Oversight was among the groups investigating the officer-involved shooting.

Ayaan Moledina, federal policy director for Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, said the city should consider what comes next. “I think that we really, as a city, need to think about how we go forward after this,” Moledina said. Moledina also said there should be an effort to ensure suicide-by-cop is not a viable option for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Asked what could have been done differently, Moledina said, “There certainly needed to be a mental health professional who was on site first, because I do think that if he saw that there was someone who wasn’t a police officer with a gun, he wouldn’t have tried to reach for anything. And of course, he didn’t have anything with him at all.”

CBS Austin reached out to the Austin Police Department to ask whether a mental health team was called to the scene and, if not, why not, but had not received a response.

RELATED| Austin council members call for transparency after police fatally shoot 17-year-old

On Friday, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said, “There’s not an officer that comes to work wanting to be involved in a shooting, and certainly not one that involves a 17-year-old child.”

The shooting happened in Austin City Council District 1, represented by Natasha Harper-Madison. In a statement to CBS Austin, her team said the incident raises questions and concerns about public trust and confidence in the city’s institutions. “Our community deserves answers, and we must ensure that every incident involving the use of deadly force is reviewed with integrity, transparency, and accountability,” the statement said.

The hearts of Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison and the entire District 1 team are with the family and community members impacted by the loss of a young member of our community.This tragedy is a reminder that access to timely mental health and behavioral health care and support can make a meaningful difference for individuals and families facing a crisis.We recognize that this incident has raised questions and concerns throughout District 1 and the broader Austin community, and believe a complete, independent, and transparent investigation is essential—not only to establish the facts, but also to maintain public trust and confidence in our institutions.Our community deserves answers, and we must ensure that every incident involving the use of deadly force is reviewed with integrity, transparency, and accountability.

You can read the reactions from other members of the Austin City Council here.

Flores said she believes police should confirm a threat before using deadly force. “You need to make sure that that man has a gun actually to open fire like that,” she said.

Moledina highlights police training when it comes to mental health calls: “Either we increase the training drastically, or we really change the protocols around who is responding to these calls.”

The investigation remains ongoing; anyone with information is asked to contact APD’s Special Investigations Unit at (512) 974-6840, email APDSpecialInvestigations@austintexas.gov, or contact Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-8477 or austincrimestoppers.org. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available by calling or texting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.