Three people were shot dead in Austin on Sunday, authorities in Texas said. No suspects were in custody.
Law enforcement officials closed off roadways in the Great Hills Trail and Rain Creek Parkway area of the city for an “active shooting incident”, according to a tweet from the city’s police department.
The Austin-Travis county emergency medical services (ATCEMS) said three adults were dead with gunshot wounds, and that the scene was still active. It said there were no reports of any other victims.
Austin police said that while the suspect was still at large on Sunday afternoon, it appeared to have been an isolated domestic situation and there was no risk to the general public.
Austin police named the suspect as Stephen Broderick, aged 41. Local media reported that the man was thought to be a former county detective. The victims were two women and a man, Chacon added. A child was involved in the incident but he is now safe in police custody.
The killings followed a spate of mass shootings in the US in recent weeks, including a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Thursday night that left eight people dead.
A social media post from the network KXAN showed emergency vehicles at the scene in Austin.
The incident began just before noon local time when shots were reported at an apartment complex near the Arboretum shopping mall. Police urged residents in the vicinity to stay inside while a manhunt was under way.
Josh Katzowitz, who had been shopping at the nearby Trader Joe’s, said police and ambulances came “pouring in” to the area as he was leaving. He didn’t hear any shooting.
“The cops had their guns out,” he said. “Some had pistols, some had rifles and they were strapping on bulletproof vests. There were all of a sudden ambulances, sirens and police cars. There were cops coming from everywhere.”
An ATCEMS spokeswoman, Capt Christa Stedman, said said she did not know the exact location where the three people were killed. She said they responded to an area that included a strip mall, several retail stores with a large apartment complex behind it.