Police release name of man killed during SWAT, hostage incident in Southeast Austin
The Austin Police Department released the name of the man who was killed by officers last week after he took a hostage at a gas station, attempted to make a Molotov cocktail and shot at officers during an hourslong SWAT standoff.
The Police Department said that just after 12:30 p.m. on May 21, officers first saw Alfonso Gonzales, 35, driving a stolen car in the 8000 block of Salt Springs Drive before pulling into a nearby Texaco gas station. The officers approached Gonzales in the parking lot, according to a press release sent Wednesday, but he ignored them and entered the store.
After following him inside, the Austin police officers saw he had a gun. Despite calling on him to drop the gun, Gonzales did not, causing the officers to leave and call in a SWAT team, the release said.
After speaking to an employee of the store, officers learned another employee was locked inside an office.
Throughout the hourslong standoff, Gonzales was seen pacing throughout the store and pouring lighter fluid all over the place while making suicidal threats. Gonzales also shot at police multiple times, the department said.
Hostage negotiators from the Police Department repeatedly called on Gonzales to come out of the store with his hands empty and open. Gonzales refused these calls and also made it known that he was aware of the other person in the store.
As officers attempted to find ways to get the employee out of the store, the department said Gonzales threatened to shoot anyone who came near the building. Police then fired pepper ball rounds into the store and at Gonzales, but he still refused to leave the building.
More than four hours later, just before 4:50 p.m., the department said officers saw Gonzales making an improvised Molotov cocktail, and fearing that this could seriously injure or kill the trapped employee, police decided to shoot Gonzales. The officer who shot Gonzales has been with the department for 16 years, the release said.
Officers then entered the Texaco and rescued the uninjured employee. Medics with Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services took Gonzales to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead nearly 20 minutes later.
No one besides Gonzales was injured during the standoff, police said.
Per the Police Department's policies, footage of the shooting from the body-worn camera of the officer will be released within 10 days after the incident, and criminal and administrative investigations will be conducted.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin police name man killed during last week's SWAT incident
