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The Police News
1 officer, 2 hostages killed overnight in Austin
Austin, TX

AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) - The Austin Police Department is investigating a hostage situation that happened overnight, leaving one officer and two victims dead, with a second officer in stable condition at a local hospital. The suspect is deceased.

During a press briefing Saturday morning, Interim Chief of Police Robin Henderson shared details on the developing story.

"This has been a very tragic day," she said. "A very tragic incident for all involved."

First responders received a 911 call at 2:49 a.m. coming from 9308 Bernoulli Drive.

"A caller was screaming for help," Henderson shared. "The caller provided more details and said someone was stabbing her."

Officers arrived at the scene at 2:57 a.m., where they discovered there were two other people injured inside the home with the suspect. Before the officers got there, though, a third victim escaped and was taken to a local hospital.

At 3:00 a.m. officers announced and identified themselves before forcing their way into the home. That's when the suspect started shooting at them. The officers backed out without returning fire. At 3:06 a.m., SWAT was called out to the scene—they arrived another hour later at 4:11.

The SWAT officers also forced their way into the home, at which point the suspect and officers exchanged gunfire.

At 4:15, it was communicated over radio that two officers had been shot. They were taken to a local hospital, but one of the SWAT officers died from his injuries, according to Mayor Kirk Watson's chief of staff. The second officer is in stable condition.