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Seven Austin police officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing by Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore in connection to the shooting death of a man in early 2018. Thomas Alvarez died from his wounds after a standoff in which he first pointed a gun at himself, and then at police.
According to a statement from Moore’s office, officers Benjamin Rogers, Deandre Wright, Khristof Oborski, Matthew Henion, Nicholas Gebhart, Rafael Rosales, and Robert Brady were all justified in their uses of force.
“In accordance with the Office’s policies, District Attorney Margaret Moore will not present this case to a grand jury for possible indictment and has issued a declination letter summarizing the facts of the investigation and the legal analysis forming the basis for her decision,” the statement says.
On February 19, 2018, at 5:30p.m., a woman called 911 from her home, saying she’d been followed by a roommate and was uneasy. As she was on the phone, she reported the arrival of that roommate, later identified as Alvarez, in a yellow taxi cab.
When police arrived at the scene, they attempted to get Alvarez and the cab driver to exit the vehicle. Alvarez did so, but then got back into the car, eventually taking the driver’s seat as the cab driver exited. Alvarez then led police on a lengthy pursuit, finally being boxed in by police cars and a gate on Edge Creek Drive. Soon after stopping there, Alvarez pointed a handgun out of the window.
Patrol and later SWAT officers surrounded the vehicle and a hostage negotiator attempted to make contact with Alvarez. Police say there was, initially, some minimal communication but Alvarez soon stopped responding. He was seen againpointing the gun out of the window again, but at the time, no officers fired their weapons.
Roughly an hour after the standoff began, Alvarez pointed the gun out of the window at officers again. At that point, the seven officers discharged their weapons. Alvarez continued to point his weapon at them, and a second volley of shots was fired about ten seconds later. Alvarez was still moving around inside the vehicle, and when he pointed his gun at officers yet again six minutes later, the third and final round of shots was fired.
A full discussion of these facts and the legal analysis forming the basis for the declination letter will be published on the District Attorney’s Civil Rights Unit.
