Man killed in Austin after shooting Mexican Consulate - CNN.com
(CNN) -- A man shot up a federal courthouse and a Mexican consulate -- which he also seemingly tried to set ablaze -- early Friday before being shot dead outside the Austin, Texas, police headquarters, that city's police chief said.
The shooter fired "over 100 rounds" in a roughly 10-minute span, but he did not hit anyone even though the bullets ricocheted at a typically busy time in downtown Austin, when streets fill up with people after bars close for the night.
"This Thanksgiving ... weekend, I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased," police Chief Art Acevedo said. "That's something that we should all take a lot of comfort in."
Chief: Austin gunman was a 'lone wolf'
Acevedo didn't name the shooter but described him as a male Austin resident about 50 years old who had a criminal history.
Authorities have not offered a motive, but the police chief said that the shooter's "violent anti-government behavior" -- as evidenced by attacking buildings that belong to Mexico's government, the U.S. government and, in the police headquarters, the city government -- may have come from ongoing and often vitriolic debates in society.
"Our political discourse has become very heated and sometimes very angry, and sometimes the rhetoric is not healthy," Acevedo said, adding that the divisive immigration debate "comes to mind," given that the federal courthouse and Mexican Consulate were targeted. "... I would venture, based on my training and experience, that the political rhetoric might have fed into some of this."
The first 911 calls about gunshots came in at 2:22 a.m. (3:22 a.m. ET) Friday, with some reporting a "possible automatic weapon being fired" a few minutes later.
(CNN) -- A man shot up a federal courthouse and a Mexican consulate -- which he also seemingly tried to set ablaze -- early Friday before being shot dead outside the Austin, Texas, police headquarters, that city's police chief said.
The shooter fired "over 100 rounds" in a roughly 10-minute span, but he did not hit anyone even though the bullets ricocheted at a typically busy time in downtown Austin, when streets fill up with people after bars close for the night.
"This Thanksgiving ... weekend, I give thanks that no one but the suspect is injured or deceased," police Chief Art Acevedo said. "That's something that we should all take a lot of comfort in."
Acevedo didn't name the shooter but described him as a male Austin resident about 50 years old who had a criminal history.
Authorities have not offered a motive, but the police chief said that the shooter's "violent anti-government behavior" -- as evidenced by attacking buildings that belong to Mexico's government, the U.S. government and, in the police headquarters, the city government -- may have come from ongoing and often vitriolic debates in society.
"Our political discourse has become very heated and sometimes very angry, and sometimes the rhetoric is not healthy," Acevedo said, adding that the divisive immigration debate "comes to mind," given that the federal courthouse and Mexican Consulate were targeted. "... I would venture, based on my training and experience, that the political rhetoric might have fed into some of this."
The first 911 calls about gunshots came in at 2:22 a.m. (3:22 a.m. ET) Friday, with some reporting a "possible automatic weapon being fired" a few minutes later.
