Austin Shooting Suspects Update: Teens in Custody After 12 Drive-Bys Target Fire Stations and Random Pedestrians

Three teenagers were taken into custody on Sunday evening in connection with a 19‑hour Austin shooting spree that stretched across multiple neighbourhoods in Texas and included at least 12 drive‑by attacks on fire stations, pedestrians and homes, according to local police.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said two of the suspects, aged 15 and 17, were arrested in the city, while a third teenager was detained later in nearby Manor after a large‑scale manhunt.

The Austin shooting incidents began late on Saturday afternoon and continued into Sunday, leaving four people injured and residents across east, south and southwest Austin unnerved. The suspects are accused of firing into apartment buildings, at two fire stations and at people on the street, while allegedly stealing at least four vehicles as they moved around the city.

Davis identified the 15‑ and 17‑year‑olds at a press conference, confirming that both were already on the radar of law enforcement. The 17‑year‑old had an outstanding warrant for theft of a firearm from a gun store, the same shop from which the 15‑year‑old allegedly stole a weapon on Saturday. Both guns used in the Austin shooting spree were stolen, Davis said.

The pair are being held in juvenile detention. Investigators had not yet begun formal interviews with them by Sunday evening, and no charges had been publicly detailed. A third suspect ran from the vehicle when officers finally stopped it in Manor, east of Austin. Manor Police Chief Ryan Phipps said that person was arrested hours later following an extensive search.

How The Austin Shooting Spree Unfolded

According to Chief Davis, the first emergency calls came in at around 3.45pm on Saturday from Wentworth Drive in east Austin. In that initial incident, shots were fired toward Fire Station 26. No firefighters were reported injured there, but the attack set off a chain of events that would stretch into the following day.

The shootings then paused overnight. Just before 9am on Sunday, the violence resumed in southeast Austin. A man walking his dog near Janes Ranch Road and Ballydawn Drive was shot in the back. It was around this point, Davis said, that detectives began to recognise that separate calls might be connected.

Another attack was reported in the 2800 block of Montebello Road in southwest Austin, near Rollingwood, where shots were fired toward Fire Station 32. Across the 12 recorded incidents, the suspects are believed to have targeted two fire stations. At one location, a fire truck was hit while firefighters stood directly behind it, highlighting how close the city came to a more serious tragedy.

A separate shooting near Burton Drive and Oltorf Street left one victim in need of surgery at South Austin Hospital. In all, four people were shot. Austin Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckridge said three victims suffered non‑life‑threatening injuries, while one was critically hurt and received whole blood transfusion at the scene before being taken to a trauma centre. All four were transported to local trauma hospitals.

The suspects also allegedly fired into several apartment complexes, forcing officers to go door to door to check on residents. At least one pole‑mounted camera captured an attack, showing rounds being fired from a moving vehicle at a woman standing outside a shop.

Throughout the spree, police say the teenagers stole at least four vehicles. Chief Davis explained that the constantly changing cars, combined with the wide geographic spread of incidents across south Austin, made it difficult for officers to realise early on that they were dealing with a single roaming group.

Arrests, Technology Gaps And A City Left Shaken

The hunt for the suspect vehicle intensified as the day went on. Chief Phipps said Manor officers eventually spotted the car travelling in the opposite direction and pursued it through Old Town Manor before it veered onto northbound FM 973. The suspects tried to cut through a field, where the vehicle crashed.

All three fled on foot. Two were quickly apprehended, but the third triggered a large‑scale search across multiple neighbourhoods. Police deployed helicopters, drones, SWAT teams, canine units and officers from several agencies.

Phipps said the search area was extensive and involved nearly 200 officers. A shelter‑in‑place order was lifted around 8pm when authorities announced they were ending the 'exhaustive' hunt and the remaining teenager was detained at about 10pm.

Austin's mayor, Kirk Watson, and Chief Davis briefed reporters on Sunday evening, with Watson praising the coordinated response by Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department, Austin Travis County EMS, the Travis County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Manor Police. Watson said he had spoken with Manor mayor Christopher Harvey and with Texas governor Greg Abbott, who had offered support to the city.

Davis was candid about gaps in the city's technology. She acknowledged that automated licence‑plate reader systems might have helped officers more quickly track the suspects, given the multiple stolen vehicles. Both she and Mayor Watson said they were willing to revisit Austin's policies on such surveillance tools in light of the difficulties faced during the Austin shooting response.

As for why the spree happened at all, Davis said investigators still had no motive. 'I don't know what motive would drive anybody to come and drive around senselessly in this city and shoot,' she told journalists.

Residents who lived through the 19 hours sounded bewildered as well as frightened. 'It scared me. It scared me so much,' said Samantha Martinez, who lives in southeast Austin. Ryan Nowlin, from south Austin, put it more bluntly, 'It's alarming. Drive‑by shootings don't really happen.'

For now, those drive‑bys have left four injured, three teenagers in custody and a city asking how, and why, it unfolded in the first place.