Austin Police Department has finally released the dash-cam video footage of the fatal shooting of a man earlier this year in January. The incident took place on January 5 during a road rage accident. Austin Police Department’s police officer shot the 27-year-old Alex Gonzales multiple times in his car. His girlfriend and child was with him when the police officers fatally shot him.
The authorities told the 27-year-old was involved in a road rage accident with an off-duty police officer on the day. Austin Police Department officers arrived on the scene and some moments later, a police officer shot Alex, multiple times while he was in a car. The incident took place at the 2500 block of Wickersham Lane. Gabriel Gutierrez called 911 and reported that the 27-year-old was shot.
Gutierrez explained that Gonzales first cut him-off and then pointed a gun towards him. This prompted the off-duty officer to take his gun and open fire. There were two shootings at the scene at different timings. The first one was reported around 12:30 a.m. when Gutierrez fired Gonzales. There is no video footage between the encounter of off-duty police officer and Gonzales.
Police officers found a gun in Gonzales’s car
A bystander recorded the incident, which showed two cars side by side. CCTV footage from a nearby apartment also showed the cars together, but the firearm wasn’t shown. The Gonzales family’s lawyer, Scott Hendler confirmed the gun in Gonzales’ car but argued that the firearm wasn’t seen in the video. He further added that the video footage didn’t feature Gonzales’ gun, neither him holding the firearm.
Police officers who responded to the scene, arrived sometime later and yelled at Gonzales not to reach. Gonzales reportedly waked around the car in the backseat of his car, which was shown in the dash cam footage. One of the responding officer, Luis Serrato opened fired as Gonzales tried to reach his backseat. The officer reportedly fired 10 shots, which seemingly struck Gonzales and killed him.
Gonzales’ lawyer said that his client was reaching the backseat to check whether his 2-month-old baby was okay. The other passenger with Gonzales was his girlfriend, who was injured but survived. Luckily, the baby was unharmed during the unfortunate shooting. The officers are currently on administrative leave while the department is conducting the investigation separately.