Last night my neighborhood was in lockdown as the Austin SWAT confronted a "man [who] refused to surrender" after a "wellfare call." The whole thing ended after a five hour standoff with no one being hurt and the man brought into custody. Since it was in my ‘hood, I recorded my experiences via Twitter.
Bold are from the later news reports or commentary from me. Times are approximations since Twitter doesn’t record the exact time of a post. I share my tweets with Facebook but there is sometimes a lag.
- 9:41 PM trying to figure out why the cops are diverting traffic from Burnet down 47th (past my house). Access to Rosedale cut off at 47th also.
Austin Police Lt. Ockltree tells KEYE TV a check wellfare call came in shortly before 7:30p.m. Police aren’t releasing any other details but tell us the man inside refused to surrender.
10:04 PM SWAT standoff like one block from my house! http://tinyurl.com/cjnjhx Streets blocked off and everything.
10:07 PM More on SWAT standoff http://tinyurl.com/dn48bv
10:24 PM Cops are keeping everyone off the streets. It’s very quiet out there… hopefully, not too quiet.
Sgt. Mason with APD says, "That’s why were here, that’s basically why we shut down Burnet Road. To make sure that everyone is safe and if the person has weaponery and we don’t know at this point, but if there is some kind of danger. That’s why we shut down Burnet Road and the neighborhood is in lockdown."
10:30 PM Hope this resolves before bed. Not exactly easy to sleep with police lights flickering throughout the house.
I live on 47th between Burnet and Rosedale. Standoff on 46th between Burnet and Rosedale. I could see the flashing lights from both Burnet and Rosedale as cops blocked off the streets.
11:30 PM aluikart @rickklaw @iemilie @terrymtz @ctreada SWAT team has closed rosedale between 45th and 47th. almost wasn’t allowed back to my house.
Neighbor aluikart who is on Rosedale reached out to several of us via Twitter. I’ve included some of his tweets for a more complete picture.
11:30 PM aluikart good thing sarah was home – my license doesn’t have my rosedale address so i couldn’t prove i lived here. 46th is crazy dark right now.
11:35 PM Still no news and no movement. Just flashing lights.
11:40 PM aluikart this is no "omg plane just landed in hudson", but probably the most exciting few twitters i’ve ever twittered. UPDATE: no gun battles.
12:00 AM aluikart "YOU NEED TO COME OUT. WE CAN’T LEAVE UNTIL WE KNOW YOU’RE SAFE"
I assume this is SWAT talking to the man barricaded in the house.
12:25 AM aluikart okay, no more fucking around. those were gunshots.
12:25 AM Gunshots fired!
We both heard the shots. This very vague bit comes from the news report. "At one point while police were talking to a woman in the front yard, neighbors say they heard two gunshots."
12:28 AM A few moments of lots of cars moving on 47th then nothing but quiet after the shots.
12:32 AM some of the news trucks parked at Phoenicia [Bakery at 47th & Burnet[ have driven away. Burnet and Rosedale still closed.
12:35 AM aluikart lots of banging noises right now. not like the gunshots earlier. maybe they’re breaking the door down?
12:36 AM banging noises are from the garbage truck at Phoenicia. Watching out my window.
12:40 AM Garbage truck gone now. Any new clanking is from something else.
12:41 AM Another gunshot! Shotgun this time?
12:43 AM And now a cop car went zooming by on 47th toward Burnet!
12:45 AM According to @aluikart who is closer to the scene, it was an explosion
12:46 AM aluikart that rattled windows here. not that i’ve ever heard a shotgun before.
Police finally used [tear] gas on the man, and were able to get him out of the house without incident around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
12:47 AM aluikart well, i didn’t see anything. i’m going to stop posting because i can’t see anything and don’t want to spread misinformation.
1:00 AM Ambulance passed my house on 47th and turned left on Ramses! No lights but heading toward scene.
1:22 AM Hearing what may very well be several gunshots
Have no idea what the noises were and probably never will.
1:26 AM Wish they’d end this standoff. I’d really like to go to bed now.
Course it was over but had no way of knowing.
1:40 AM Been very quiet for abt 15 minutes. No noise. No cop movements. Just some barking from the dogs in the neighborhood. They’re agitated.
1:54 AM Streets still blocked but been quiet for nearly 1/2 hour. Wonder if they forgot to tell the grunts blocking the streets?
1:58 AM Police van is gone from Burnet but street is still closed. As is Rosedale.
2:15 AM Guess it is over. Rosedale is open though Burnet is still closed. Figure out in morn. Off to bed.
So there you have it. A lil bit of excitement in my life as experienced via Twitter.