AUSTIN, Texas — The shooting rampage that resulted in the deaths of six people in Austin and San Antonio has left State Rep. Vikki Goodwin (District 47) questioning why the state's active shooter alert system wasn't activated in the Capital City, where four separate shootings unfolded.
"There were several opportunities when Austin police could have alerted the community so that people could have changed their behavior, they could have protected themselves, they could have looked for suspicious activity and reported that back to the police," Goodwin said.
According to authorities, 34-year-old Shane James likely carried out all of the attacks, which started in Austin at 10:43 a.m. and ended roughly around 7 p.m. when he was arrested by Austin police officers.
The shootings that spread throughout the city left people near those crime scenes on edge but did not trigger the active shooter alert to be activated.
Goodwin said she reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety after the shooting that injured an Austin ISD police officer outside of the Northeast Early College High School on Berkman Drive. She said she was told by DPS officials that it was not an active shooter situation and the Austin Police Department would need to be the one to request for the alert to be used.
Austin police said in a news release on Wednesday that because it "was not an active shooting event," an alert was not issued.
The department added, "It is not common practice for APD, or any other law enforcement agency, to issue any sort of alert for every shooting that happens in their jurisdiction with an unidentified shooter."
"I think this definitely fit within the definition of an active shooter. They just didn't realize it at the time," Goodwin said.
The Texas Active Shooter Alert program was put into effect in September 2021 and allows DPS to issue alerts to people who are close to an active threat.
In an email to KVUE, a spokesperson with DPS said the alert must be requested by the investigating agency and must meet the requirements for it to be considered an active shooter situation. According to the agency's website, those requirements are:
- An active shooter is in the requesting agency’s jurisdiction
- Determination that an Active Shooter Alert would assist individuals near the active shooter’s location
- Verification exists of the active shooter situation through a preliminary investigation by the requesting agency
- The active shooter’s last known location is identifiable
"Since the Active Shooter Alert became effective, the department has not received any requests for activation. We would refer any questions regarding the investigation to the Austin Police Department," DPS added.
Goodwin said she reached out to both DPS and APD in an effort to conduct a meeting to see if there are any adjustments that could be made in future emergencies, so that in a scenario like the one that transpired on Tuesday, people in the affected areas can be alerted.
"I want to see that our law enforcement is giving information to the community – that they're not just relying on one another and on Facebook," Goodwin said. "I feel like, oftentimes, we want to push that under the rug and move on and not talk about it when it's fresh. But unfortunately, we have this happen so many times."
Goodwin added that she plans to take her fight to the White House, where she will address violent crime and what can be done at a state level.