AUSTIN, Texas — A man in South Austin said he was sleeping when he awoke to his window being shot at.
Justin, who chose not to share his last name, is a resident of the Cascade Apartments on Algarita Avenue. He said on Saturday, he found part of the glass of his bedroom window shattered by what appeared to be a bullet. When he went outside to investigate, he found a man on a balcony of an apartment, BB gun in hand, shooting at squirrels.
Justin recorded the incident on his cellphone.
"Right after he was done shooting this squirrel, he proceeded to say, 'No human or animal is safe around me,'" Justin said.
The statement caused Justin to panic and led him to call the Austin Police Department (APD). He said after two calls to 911 and a roughly three-hour wait time, he finally received a response. But it wasn't the one he was hoping for.
"The police eventually said they weren't going to show. You know, that's not their fault, they're doing what they can," Justin said. "I'm just curious myself, you know, what level is it going to have to go to before we can get them out?"
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In a response to KVUE on Tuesday, APD said Justin called 911 around 10:11 a.m. from the apartment complex office and was told it "might be a while before officers arrived." He was told to head back to his apartment, but told 911 he didn't want officers to come to his apartment because he didn't want the suspect to know who called 911.
"The call taker said that officers might need to come and physically see the damage in his apartment; the complainant understood that might need to happen," APD said in a statement. "The call taker told the complainant to keep his phone on him as an officer would be calling him from an unknown number, and that it may be a while before they called."
APD said Justin called police back at 12:22 p.m. from his work and said he wanted officers to respond to his work location.
"At 12:47 p.m., an officer called the complainant and because he was no longer at his residence where the incident occurred, the officer took the report over the phone and provided him with the link to upload the video he mentioned having," APD said.
Justin said he contacted the property management and the Texas Game Wardens. He said management was alarmed by what he told them, but he hopes action is taken to some degree.
KVUE reached out to Cascade Apartments on Sunday but did not receive a response back at the time of publication.
"I still don't think it's OK for people to be shooting in a busy courtyard – BB guns or not – and I just have great concern living [at Cascade Apartments]. I don't feel safe," Justin said.
Justin said Saturday's incident wasn't the first time he has called APD and not received a quick response.
"I've heard actual shootouts and looked outside and actually seeing people running down the street shooting at each other. And I never saw any sign of APD," he said.
Justin reiterated that he does not fault the police department, but said if action isn't taken, actual damage will be done.
"Someone's going to have to be shot or actually injured for them to come out," Justin said.