AUSTIN, JULY 31: A shooting in a crowded entertainment district of downtown Austin today set off a chaotic scene, leaving one woman dead and three others wounded and police searching for a suspect.
Austin Police Chief of Staff Brian Manley says police received reports of gunshots in the crowded entertainment area shortly after 2 AM (local time). Police arrived to find a chaotic scene and five people shot.
Manley says a suspect began firing into the crowd after an initial disturbance.
He said woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and three other women were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with gunshot wounds. Officials described those transported to the hospital as serious, but said their wounds were not considered life-threatening.
Manley said another victim declined to be transported to the hospital.
"It was a very chaotic scene," Manley said. "A lot of people running in different directions with all the gunshots coming out."
He said officials are trying to determine who the suspects are, and he did not rule out that a suspect might be one of the people transported to the hospital.
Police originally reported an active shooter scene in the area, but Manley said two separate incidents caused the confusion.
He said there was another confrontation in a nearby parking garage and that a shot was fired there. A man was transported to the hospital after that confrontation, but his condition was not immediately known.
