AUSTIN, Texas — As neighbors grieve the loss of 16-year-old Ahsun Madison, who was killed in a shooting at an apartment complex at 9120 Northgate Blvd. on Sept. 30, residents like Tito find themselves constantly worrying about violence in the neighborhood.
Three homicides have happened in the North Austin neighborhood in 2024 alone.
"It really makes me sad because that's just another ruined life," said Tito, who did not provide her last name. "And I can't imagine what they went through to become that person to do that and destroy so many lives."
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock calls the area a "hotspot" for crime. Over the years, he said the Austin Police Department (APD) has created specialized teams to focus on higher-crime areas, but right now, the department lacks the manpower.
"It's resource intensive, it is time intensive," Bullock said. "And when you're talking about a department that is struggling with getting resources and having enough people to just answer 911 calls, it's really hard to refocus those resources to just specific areas to try to be more proactive when we're trying to just respond to calls overall."
APD is investigating Monday's shooting as the city's 48th homicide this year.
"Already this year, we're almost double what our historic homicide rate has been and we've seen 80% increases in years past of our homicide rate. So it's definitely going up," Bullock said.
New APD Chief Lisa Davis said she is focused on finding strategies to reduce crime.
"Once those strategies are in place, we'll start seeing those reductions," Davis said. "The 50 homicides in this city is just, it's unacceptable."
Bullock also acknowledges that something needs to change.
"Otherwise, we are, we're just going to keep talking about this every year," Bullock said.
Austinites like Tito are hoping for that help to come sooner rather than later.
"It's affecting my health and mentally and my self-esteem and just bad energy. And I really don't feel safe," Tito said.
Austin police arrested a 16-year-old suspect after Monday's shooting. He is charged with first-degree murder.