AUSTIN — Austin police arrested the suspect who was allegedly involved in a shooting with another man outside of a Sixth Street club, which ended with the latter shot and killed by nine officers for allegedly brandishing a gun at them in an alley on Aug. 17.
According to an arrest affidavit, Jordan Seguin, 21, was arrested and charged with deadly conduct -- a third-degree felony.
Officers said they responded to an alleyway and parking lot near the club "Terminal 6" where two people were reportedly shooting at each other after a concert. According to an arrest affidavit, officers, who were in the area, said they heard gunshots coming from the elevated parking lot near the alley.
“We just see all these people running. We hear gunshots coming like maybe all the way down the street,” said Autumn Hale, who was on Sixth Street when the shooting happened. “Then, we hear gunshots close up, so everybody's jumping in the cars and everybody's trying to hide, duck and cover.”
Police said they witnessed two black men in the alley; one was wearing a light colored shirt and the other wasn't wearing a shirt at all. The man with the light-colored shirt fell to the ground in the alley and was taken into custody, the affidavit said.
The shirtless man, however, continued running down the alley toward Trinity Street, according to police. At that time, the several officers were allegedly approaching the alley and claimed they heard additional gunshots in the area, near the parking lot. Authorities said they witnessed the shirtless man, identified as Aquantis Jaymond Griffin, 21, run toward the officers while holding a black gun in his right hand. The officers allegedly told Griffin to "put the gun down" before he allegedly disregarded their commands. The affidavit alleges that Griffin raised his right hand and pointed his gun at the officers, prompting them to fire their weapons and kill him.
The department confirmed that eight police officers fired their weapons and one officer fired a taser at the suspect.
“If you point a gun at a police officer, ten times out of ten you’re going to get shot,” said Ken Casaday, President of the Austin Police Association. “Especially when you’re down carousing and partying and fighting and firing off you’re weapon in a public area like Sixth Street.”
Austin-Travis County EMS took Griffin to the hospital, where he later died.
According to the documents, police investigators started looking into the incident that led up to the fatal shooting of Griffin. Officers said they reviewed Griffin's social media postings on Instagram and observed that he would often post firearms and street gang-related content. Police said they drew a connection to Seguin and began looking into his social media accounts. They noted that he wrote about the shooting incident and the fact that he was carrying weapons on him at that time.
In one post, Seguin reportedly said, "WE REALLY STEP AINT NO PRETEND. TRIED TO SHOW YOU [expletives] SOME LOVE, BUT I LOVE THAT DRAMA AS WELL."
Police said they believed Seguin was referring to the night of the shooting on Aug. 17. According to the affidavit, detectives also reviewed HALO video from the night of the shooting and witnessed Griffin brandishing a firearm and pointing it at members of the crowd. The video also allegedly shows Seguin firing multiple rounds toward Griffin's direction and a crowd of others. Afterward, police said Seguin fled the parking lot in a white Chrysler 300, which was seen in the social media postings they reviewed.
Detectives said they located Seguin's address and took him into custody on Aug. 24. While in custody, authorities said Seguin admitted to being at the scene of the shooting, his involvement in a disturbance and driving the white Chrysler 300 vehicle, which was seen in the HALO video. At Seguin's apartment, officials said they found two semi-automatic pistols with two loaded magazines.
The nine officers involved in the shooting of Griffin are on paid administrative leave, which is standard in this type of investigation.
The nine officers are:
- Officer Joseph Cast - four years with APD
- Officer Daniel Mathis - four years with APD
- Officer Alberto Martinez - three years with APD
- Officer Wesley DeVries - six years with APD
- Officer Joseph Moran - one year with APD
- Officer Justin Halbach - three years with APD
- Officer Christopher Salacki - five years with APD
- Officer Lewis Holland - four years with APD (deployed Taser only)
Casaday explained the number of officers on leave is more than they would typically see, but because it was near bar closing time and officers had already responded to fights around the area, they were close by.
"People are calling 911, there were multiple 911 calls,” said Casaday. “Probably didn’t take them but 15 seconds to run to where they had to go. That explains why there were so many officers there.”
Austin police are asking anyone who witnessed anything to call them.
Only one hour passed from the first 911 call about a fight near the club to when the man died at the hospital.
Here is a timeline of the incident, according to police:
- 12:21 a.m.: 911 calls start coming in about disturbances at the club "Terminal 6"
- 12:21-12:39 am: three calls came in about fights outside the club
- 1 a.m.: call about disturbance in the alley and parking lot behind the club
- 1:02 a.m.: 911 calls-shots fired in the alley and parking lot behind the club
- Officers “saw an individual that was running toward them in an eastbound direction with a hand gun in his right hand.”
- Eight officers fired guns; one fired a taser
- 1:05 a.m.: officers perform life-saving measures on man
- 1:22 a.m.: 21-year-old pronounced dead at hospital