Three people were killed in what authorities called a “domestic situation” involving a former sheriff’s detective in Austin, Texas, on Sunday — and the suspected gunman is still on the loose, authorities said.
The gunman, tentatively identified as Stephen Nicholas Broderick, 41, knew the victims in the targeted attack, authorities said.
“If you see him, he is considered armed and dangerous at this point,” Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said of Broderick during a press briefing. “Obviously, this is a tragedy. We have people who have lost their lives out here.
“We are going to do our very best to conduct the best investigation that we can and also to get this person into custody as quickly as possible and hopefully with no further loss of life,” he said.
Chacon said Broderick is a former law-enforcement officer. The cop added that initial reports a child was involved in the shooting proved unfounded. The child was found unharmed, he said.
The victims were all adults, the chief said.
At a second briefing Sunday evening, Chacon said police were lifting the shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood but urged residents to remain vigilant nonetheless.
“We are transitioning from a search of this area to a fugitive search,” he said. “These efforts will continue until this person is located. So I don’t want anyone to think that we’re packing up and going home.”
Austin police initially got a call on the incident at 11:42 a.m. local time.
Suspect Stephen Broderick, 41. Austin Police“APD is currently on scene of an active shooting incident at Great Hills and Train Creek Parkway,” the Austin Police Department said on Twitter. “All residents are advised to shelter in place and avoid the area.”
In a follow-up tweet, police said the shooter remained on the loose but that the general public was not at risk.
“We are still asking residents to shelter in place and report suspicious activity,” the tweet said.
“While a suspect is still at large it appears this is a domestic situation that is isolated and there is no risk to the general public,” a tweet said.
Police, SWAT and medical personnel respond to a fatal shooting in the Aboretum area of northwest Austin on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Brontë Wittpenn/Austin American-Statesman via APAccording to the Austin-Travis County EMS on Twitter, paramedics pronounced three people dead at the scene.
Police and emergency responders remain at the location of the shootings, KXXV-TV said.
According to WNDU-TV, the first 911 call from the scene came in around 11:45 a.m. local time, or 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time.
No additional information was immediately available.
