2 teenage boys arrested in random shootings across Austin that left 4 injured
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- Two teenage boys are in custody and a third suspect is sought after at least 10 random shootings across Austin, Texas, left four people injured, one critically, officials said.
- Police say the 15- and 17-year-olds drove stolen vehicles around the city, firing at homes, apartments and two fire stations with a gun stolen by the younger teen.
- A shelter-in-place order for much of Austin was lifted after the arrests.
AUSTIN, Texas — Two teenage boys were in custody and a potential third suspect was being sought after at least 10 random weekend shootings in Austin, Texas, that left four people injured, one critically, city officials said Sunday.
Driving around the city in stolen vehicles, the teens fired at apartment buildings, houses and two fire stations during a series of robberies and shootings from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.
The two boys, ages 15 and 17, were apprehended after they were pulled over in a stolen car and attempted to run, Davis said. A third person who had been in the car also ran and remained at large. Davis said it was unknown whether that person was involved in the shootings.
She said the firearm used in the shootings had been stolen by the 15-year old, and the 17-year-old was wanted for a separate firearm theft.
The city ordered residents of a large part of the southern area of Texas’ capital city to shelter in place Sunday while they were searching for the suspects. With two suspects in custody, the order was lifted.
Four victims were taken to hospitals, including one with critical injuries, officials said.
The boys stole at least four vehicles as they traveled around the city, Davis said.
“We don’t have any specific motive that has been identified. In fact, these actions appear to be random,” Mayor Kirk Watson said.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
UCLA professor and climate scientist, Alex Hall, joins host Kate Cagle to talk about how we can better prepare ourselves for the next mega-fire, including a proposal to create a classification system – and a standardized response – for Santa Ana wind storms, similar to the one we use for hurricanes in the U.S.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Modern LA earned its first smoggy nickname 450 years ago, as the “bay of smokes.” At the La Brea tar pits, we take a short walk through a long history with curator Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of LA and foretold the curse of smog.
