WATCH: Four People Shot Near SXSW In Austin
The annual SXSW festival is a spring break tradition for entertainment lovers and industry folks. I attended the event for many years through the 2000s as it began to explode from a local "insider" festival to the trending monster its become now.
For roughly two weeks, those who want to be seen or heard converge on Austin and takes over the city with nearly round the clock concerts and parties. With the pandemic coming to an end, this was the first time in a few years since the event went back to full scale and unfortunately, problems arose amongst the crowd and gunshots were fired.
Four victims were shot around 2 a.m. and taken to hospitals.
According to KXAN and Fox 7 Austin, officers were on patrol in the 400 block near Toulouse Bar when they heard several gunshots coming from that area, says APD. As the crowd was making their way through the streets, gunfire erupted from what police say started as a disturbance between two groups of people.
Video circulating on social media shows the moments when the gunfire erupted.
The four victims were rushed to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Police took multiple people into custody following the shooting, and officers announced they had the suspect in custody a few hours later before 5 a.m. Sunday. APD says due to the ongoing investigation, they are not releasing the name of the person arrested.
This Is The Second Mass Shooting On Austin's 6th Street This Year.
Austin's 6th Street district is a great place to party but like most party places, there's bound to be some element of danger. A teenager from Killeen was arrested for gun violence that killed one person and injured 13 victims on June 13th of last year, separate from Sunday's mass shooting.