Update: Over the weekend, Austin Police identified the man killed as 32-year-old Larry Eugene Jackson Jr. The Austin Police officer who shot him was Detective Charles Kleinert. Kleinert has been an officer for almost 20 years.
APD is looking for a witness who might have seen what happened between Jackson and Kleinert.
Original Story (July 26, 7:58 p.m.): A man is dead after he was shot by an Austin police detective Friday afternoon near the intersection of 34th Street and Shoal Creek Boulevard. Police describe the man only as African American. Police had not yet established his identity. No officer was injured in the incident.
Brian Manley, assistant chief at APD, says the incident began as a detective was inside the Benchmark Bank at 1508 West 35th Street, investigating a robbery that occurred at 8:19 A.M. Friday. The subject came to the front door and tried to open it, but the door was locked, Manley said.
"The subject walked away for a minute and then came back to the front door and attempted to open the door again," Manley told reporters during a media briefing. Standing next to Manley were Austin City Manager Marc Ott and Margo Fraser with the Office of the Police Monitor, an independent local agency that handles citizen grievances with police. "At this point, he got the attention of the bank management staff that was inside."
A bank manager went outside to talk to the man, and the man "identified himself in a manner in which the bank manager recognized was not an accurate identification," Manly said.
The manager went back into the bank and told the detective what just happened. The detective went outside and had a two to three minute conversation with the person, Manley said. It was captured on the bank surveillance video.
"The individual, for unknown reasons, got up and took off running," Manley said. The detective chased him on foot, caught up with him under a bridge on Shoal Creek. They got into a physical struggle, during which the detective shot the man and killed him.
"Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, we cannot tell whether these events are related in any way at this time," Manley said. Police say the man is not the one who robbed the bank earlier in the day. They haven't identified the man and don't know his age.
Police have not yet established how many times the officer shot his gun. They are not identifying the officer at this point, but have said he has been placed on paid administrative leave. They have also not said if the man shot was carrying a weapon.
When asked by a reporter why the detective was threatened enough to use deadly force, Manley responded: "We're not going into the specifics of the investigation. It's too early at this point and it's very dynamic."
Austin police say they will provide another update on the investigation on Monday.
You can listen to the police media briefing on this player.
Here's the area in which the shooting occurred.
