One year after a gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a North Austin Target, killing three people including a 4-year-old girl, the man accused in the attack remains behind bars awaiting trial. Ethan Nieneker faces eight felony charges, including two counts of capital murder, and has an arraignment hearing scheduled for August 20 in the 331st Criminal District Court, according to Travis County criminal court records.
The shooting happened on August 11, 2025, at the Target store at 8601 Research Blvd., when Austin police received a 9-1-1 call about gunfire at approximately 2:15 p.m. Officers arrived about four minutes later, and Austin-Travis County EMS medics reached the scene around 2:23 p.m., according to MySA. Investigators later identified the three people killed as 24-year-old Target employee Rosa Machuca-Osorio, 65-year-old Adam Chow, and Chow's 4-year-old granddaughter, whose name was never released, per the Austin Police Department. Machuca-Osorio died at an area hospital after suffering critical, life-threatening injuries, while Chow and his granddaughter were pronounced dead at the scene.
A Random Attack That Spiraled Into a City-Wide Rampage
According to the Austin Police Department's homicide investigation, Nieneker first shot Machuca-Osorio at random while she was collecting shopping carts in the Target lot. He then opened fire on a black Jeep Cherokee as it tried to flee, before shooting Chow and his granddaughter inside a gray Toyota 4Runner. Nieneker pushed Chow's wife out of the SUV and stole it; she survived the attack with minor injuries. Investigators said at the time that the shooting appeared to be random.
What followed was a chaotic, less-than-hour-long getaway across the city. Nieneker tried to steal a water truck in the 7800 block of North Mopac Expressway and assaulted its driver, according to KVUE. He crashed the stolen 4Runner into multiple vehicles, then stole a Volkswagen from a driver involved in that crash and assaulted them as well, driving it south to South Austin. Police say he also tried to break into a nearby Waymo vehicle during the spree.
Nieneker's flight ended after a bible study acquaintance recognized him and called police, per the station's report. He threw a brick through the window of a residence in the 2100 block of La Casa Drive, and a 9-1-1 caller reported a naked man wandering nearby in the 2400 block of the same street at 2:58 p.m. Police located him along Montclaire Street off South Lamar Boulevard and used a stun gun to take him into custody, finding him naked and holding a bible.
Confession and Charges That Grew From Three to Eight
An arrest affidavit revealed that Nieneker confessed to the shootings during interrogation by Austin Police Department homicide detectives, telling them he acted out of love and stating, “I shot them both because I'm Jesus,” according to KVUE. Then-32-year-old Nieneker was formally identified as the suspected shooter the day after the attack, when he initially faced three charges: capital murder by terror threat or other felony, capital murder of a person under 10 years old, and first-degree murder.
By August 20, 2025, that charge count had grown to eight. Court documents detailed the additional counts as aggravated robbery for carjacking Chow's 4Runner, attempted murder for firing at the fleeing Jeep, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against the water-truck driver, and robbery for carjacking the Volkswagen, per KVUE's reporting. A notice of indictment was issued against Nieneker on November 4, 2025, and he remains in the Travis County jail as of Sunday, according to Travis County Sheriff's Office inmate records.
A Documented History of Violence and Missed Warning Signs
The day after the shooting, then-Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Nieneker had a documented criminal history and mental health concerns, describing “serious failures” that led up to the attack. Travis and Williamson county court records show Nieneker had at least 11 prior criminal charges over 13 years, including multiple family violence assault allegations involving two former girlfriends and a roommate, criminal mischief, DWI, and protective order violations, as reported by Texas Public Radio. Despite those repeated arrests dating back to 2012, Nieneker had served minimal jail time, and Davis acknowledged he had previously been placed on emergency mental health holds.
Executive leadership at NAMI Texas drew parallels between Nieneker's case and that of Shane James Jr., who was accused of killing six people across San Antonio and Austin in December 2023, pointing to both cases as evidence of gaps where people with violent histories and severe mental illness slip through criminal court and psychiatric safeguards, Texas Public Radio reported. James was also subjected to mental health competency evaluations in Travis County courts, a case Hoodline has previously covered as his own trial date was tentatively set.
What's Next for the Case
Following his arrest, Travis County courts ordered a formal mental health evaluation to determine Nieneker's competency to stand trial before the case could advance in the 331st Criminal District Court, per Texas Public Radio. Under Texas Penal Code § 19.03, capital murder — which includes intentionally killing a child under 10 or committing murder during a terroristic threat — is a capital felony punishable only by death or life imprisonment without parole, according to FindLaw.
With an arraignment now set for August 20, the case is moving forward roughly a year after the violence unfolded across North and South Austin in the span of less than an hour. The three victims' deaths, and the string of assaults and carjackings that followed, remain the backdrop against which prosecutors and defense attorneys will argue over Nieneker's mental state and his fate under Texas's capital murder statute.
