Austin police are asking residents to keep their eyes peeled after a string of apparently random shootings across the city that have investigators scrambling to identify a teenage suspect and his car.
According to the Austin Police Department, the incidents do not appear to follow any clear motive or pattern, and detectives are working through a growing pile of tips, camera footage, and neighborhood canvases. Officers have released only limited details so far as the investigation remains active, while urging residents to stay alert.
What the police say
In a recent update, the Austin Police Department described the suspect as a male in his late teens driving a black or dark blue 2012 Hyundai Sonata with a broken right-side passenger window. Investigators say the reported shootings happened at multiple locations across Austin, and at this point, there is no known connection between the victims. The investigation is ongoing, according to KVUE.
Detectives say they are reviewing surveillance and cellphone video and may release images to the public if that could help identify the car or the driver.
How to help investigators
Anyone with information is asked to call the Austin Police tip line at 512-974-5177 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 512-472-8477. Tips can also be submitted online at Austin Crime Stoppers.
The department and Crime Stoppers say a reward of up to $1,000 may be available for information that leads to an arrest. Police routinely share this kind of guidance in ongoing investigations, hoping a small detail from a witness or a bit of video will break a case open. In this instance, Austin Police specifically urged residents to check doorbell and dashcam footage for any sign of the described Hyundai.
Context
The alert comes on the heels of several high-profile shootings in Austin over the past year, including a triple homicide outside a Target store last August that drew national attention and a mass shooting incident downtown in March. Those cases have kept public safety under scrutiny and reinforced ongoing calls for witnesses and private surveillance footage, as reported by AP News and local outlets.
For now, detectives are asking anyone who may have seen a dark sedan with a damaged right passenger window, or who captured suspicious activity on the nights in question, to come forward. Investigators say they plan to follow up on all credible leads as they work to track down the driver and piece together what happened.
