A man who admitted to fatally shooting an armed Black Lives Matter protester in Austin on Saturday night was detained and then released pending further investigation, the Texas city police chief said.
Chief Brian Manley said detectives assigned to the homicide unit detained the man and interviewed him after he called 911 shortly after the shooting. The man said he had shot someone who approached his vehicle during the demonstration and pointed a gun at him.
The shooting victim was Garrett Foster, 28, and died of multiple gunshot wounds.
“We are heartbroken over the loss of Mr. Foster last night,” Manley said at a Zoom news conference on Sunday night posted on Twitter. “It is being actively investigated and ongoing with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.”
AUSTIN, TX – July 26: People gather around a makeshift monument filled with flowers and candles at a vigil for Garrett Foster on July 26, 2020 in downtown Austin, Texas. Garrett Foster, 28, who was armed and participating in a Black Lives Matter protest, was shot dead after a chaotic altercation with a motorist who allegedly broke into the crowd. The suspect, who has not yet been identified, was detained. (Photo by Sergio Flores / Getty Images)
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The chief said that after the vehicle turned into a crowd of protesters and honked its horn, witnesses observed Foster holding an AK-47 type assault rifle and approached the driver’s side window as some protesters pounded on the vehicle.
After the shooting, another person with a gun opened fire on the vehicle while quickly driving away, Manley said.
He said that person was detained and released after being interviewed by homicide detectives.
The chief said the individual had a concealed transportation license, as did the person who shot Foster.
Their weapons and Foster’s gun were confiscated as evidence, as was the vehicle, he said.
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Officers assigned to the protest responded after hearing the two shots fired, he said.
The shooting was caught on video and Manley made a public appeal for more videos and photos. The chief did not say why the vehicle became protesters, saying it was part of the investigation.
Foster went to the protest Saturday with his fiancee, Whitney Mitchell, a 28-year-old quadruple amputee who uses a wheelchair, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Her mother told the newspaper that she was concerned that they would attend the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody.
“I told him not to go. I was afraid something would happen, “said Patricia Kirven. “She said, ‘I don’t feel like I’m doing enough. I want to do more. “
“She is physically fine, but mentally she is not,” he said, according to the newspaper. “‘Inconsolable’ is the only word I can think of because it will speak a little and then fall apart.”
Foster’s mother told Fox 7 Austin that the death of her son has completely destroyed the family.
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Sheila Foster told the station that her son was a former aviator who recently bought the rifle to take him to security protests.
“My son would never, never point a gun at someone and would risk going to jail or being shot because he would not want to leave the love of his life as helpless as she is now,” he said.
