AUSTIN, Texas — A man who admitted to fatally shooting an armed Black Lives Matter protester in Austin on Saturday night was taken into custody and then released pending further investigation, police said.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said detectives assigned to the homicide unit detained the man and interviewed him after he called 911 following the shooting. The man acknowledged shooting the protester, saying the armed individual approached his vehicle during the demonstration and pointed a weapon at him.
The deceased was identified as Garrett Foster, 28, Fox News reported. He died of multiple gunshot wounds.
“We are heartbroken over the loss of Mr. Foster last night,” Manley said in a Zoom news conference Sunday night posted on Twitter. “It’s actively being investigated and ongoing in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.”
The chief said after the vehicle turned into a crowd of protesters and was honking its horn, witnesses observed Foster holding an AK-47-type assault rifle and approach the driver’s side window as some protesters pounded on the vehicle.
After the initial gunfire, another person with a weapon opened fire on the vehicle as it sped away, Manley said.
The chief said that person was also detained and subsequently released after being interviewed by homicide detectives.
Manley said both individuals possessed a concealed carry license.
Their firearms and the vehicle were collected as evidence during the ongoing investigation, he said.
