{"id":411393,"date":"2026-08-20T01:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411393\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T01:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T01:20:07","slug":"affidavit-suspect-admits-assaulting-stranger-before-opening-fire-on-austin-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/411393\/","title":{"rendered":"Affidavit: Suspect admits assaulting stranger before opening fire on Austin officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A man accused of opening fire on an Austin police officer<\/a> in northeast Austin told investigators he had been angry before allegedly assaulting a stranger at gunpoint and later admitted firing at the officer’s patrol vehicle, according to newly obtained court documents.<\/p>\n

Gregory Lane, 36, is charged with attempted capital murder and aggravated assault following the Aug. 12 incident at Centro Studio Homes, located at 824 Camino La Costa.<\/p>\n

According to an arrest affidavit, police were initially called around 8:21 a.m. after a man reported being assaulted and having a gun placed against his head.<\/p>\n

The victim told detectives he was staying at an Airbnb at the complex and did not know Lane. He said Lane approached his driver’s side window while a garbage truck temporarily blocked his vehicle from leaving the parking lot.<\/p>\n

According to the affidavit, Lane allegedly began yelling at the man and demanding that he repeat statements back to him. When the victim did not repeat them correctly, Lane became increasingly agitated, investigators said.<\/p>\n

The victim told police Lane punched him twice in the head before pressing a handgun against his temple. Lane then allegedly struck him in the face with the gun.<\/p>\n

Once the garbage truck moved, the victim was able to drive away and call police. Investigators documented redness, swelling, abrasions, and bleeding on the victim’s face.<\/p>\n

Affidavit details gunfire with officer<\/p>\n

Officer Stephen Abbott arrived at the complex minutes later.<\/p>\n

According to the affidavit, Abbott’s body-worn and in-car cameras<\/a> showed him entering the apartment complex at 8:26 a.m. and seeing a man in the roadway holding a gun.<\/p>\n

Abbott ordered him to drop the weapon, but the man ran behind a white SUV. Investigators said video showed the suspect firing at Abbott<\/a> at approximately 8:26 a.m. before fleeing deeper into the complex.<\/p>\n

At 8:38 a.m., police received an unusual 911 call.<\/p>\n

RELATED| Police release bodycam video, 911 call in NE Austin shootout with suspect<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the affidavit, the caller said he had been in a “shootout with police,” had put down his weapon, and wanted to negotiate. He allegedly told the dispatcher he did not want to negotiate with Austin police and requested to speak with the FBI.<\/p>\n

The caller identified himself as “Amaro Tupac,” but detectives traced the phone number and identified the caller as Lane, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n

Investigators said Lane subsequently spoke with an FBI intake specialist and acknowledged the shooting. He also told the FBI where he had placed the firearm inside the apartment.<\/p>\n

Lane eventually surrendered to officers without the weapon.<\/p>\n

Lane allegedly admitted assault, shooting<\/p>\n

During a later interview with detectives, Lane allegedly admitted he was already angry when he encountered the victim in the parking lot, despite not knowing him.<\/p>\n

According to the affidavit, Lane admitted punching the man twice and striking him with his gun.<\/p>\n

Lane also discussed the confrontation with Abbott, telling detectives he fired twice at the officer’s patrol vehicle. Lane claimed the officer fired first, although APD has previously said its investigation determined Lane fired the first shot.<\/p>\n

Detectives later searched Lane’s apartment and recovered a black Taurus 9mm handgun from a bathroom cabinet, where Lane had told authorities he left it.<\/p>\n

The affidavit alleges Lane fired at least two rounds at Abbott while the officer was in uniform, next to a marked APD patrol vehicle and responding to the emergency call.<\/p>\n

Neither Abbott nor Lane was injured during the exchange of gunfire. The original victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n

Abbott, a 12-year APD veteran, was placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard department protocol.<\/p>\n

APD is conducting criminal and administrative investigations into the officer-involved shooting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 A man accused of opening fire on an Austin police officer in northeast Austin told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-411393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}