Early on the morning of May 27, around 1:34 a.m., a call reporting a domestic disturbance led Austin Police Department officers to an apartment at 12501 Tech Ridge Boulevard, where they later fatally shot a man amid an apparent stabbing incident. According to the City of Austin, which detailed the incident, including the arrival of officers, their forced entry into the residence, and the subsequent death of suspect Ensel Maclare-Urgelles—a Hispanic male.
According to APD's version of events, the situation escalated quickly, with officers receiving a near-immediate second call indicating a female screaming for help. Upon arriving, the officers were to quickly assess and respond to the disturbance. Forced by the urgency of the screams and by the need to prevent harm, they breached the apartment and encountered Maclare-Urgelles reportedly attacking a female victim with a knife. "To protect the life of the victim," an officer discharged their firearm, striking the suspect, as stated in the official APD statement.
Emergency services were summoned posthaste, with Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services entering the scene about nine minutes after the shooting, as per the timeline provided by APD. Both the victim, sustaining multiple stab wounds, and Maclare-Urgelles were transported to local hospitals. The victim is currently in stable condition, while Maclare-Urgelles was pronounced dead at 3:05 a.m. No other injuries were reported during the incident.
In the aftermath, the officer involved has been placed on administrative duty, and APD is conducting two concurrent investigations—a criminal probe in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and an administrative inquiry by the APD Internal Affairs Unit, with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight, as per the City of Austin. Notably, the whole incident was captured on body-worn cameras, with APD policy dictating the footage to soon be made public within ten business days. This is a procedure seemingly designed to maintain a measure of transparency and accountability.
