AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Police Department (APD) has released a preliminary report regarding the in-custody death of a 27-year-old man.
APD identified the victim as Reice Samuel Brown, who died following an incident on Research Boulevard in northwest Austin on Oct. 3.
APD said it received multiple 911 calls at around 3 a.m. that a man with obvious injuries was in the roadway in the 12000 block of Research Boulevard. When officers arrived on the scene at approximately 3:09 a.m., they located the man.
According to police, officers tried to speak to Brown and de-escalate the situation, but he was not responsive to the officers' request and began to walk away. Then, according to APD, he began to seriously injure himself with a metal object, believed to be a pipe.
APD said at that time, one of the responding officers Tased Brown "in order to prevent further injury" and officers took him into custody. He then became unresponsive, and officers began performing CPR as they called Austin-Travis County EMS to the scene.
Medics were able to revive Brown and take him to a hospital in Round Rock, but he later died at approximately 4:05 a.m.
APD said because Brown was pronounced dead shortly after contact with officers, this is being investigated as an "in-custody death." However, the medical examiner determines the cause and manner of death.
APD will conduct two concurrent investigations into this incident: a criminal investigation, conducted by APD's Special Investigation Unit in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and an internal investigation, conducted by APD's Internal Affairs Unit with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight.
Given that Brown's death occurred while in custody, police say bodycam footage of the encounter will be released at some point in the next two weeks.
"Any loss of life is a tragedy," APD Sgt. Destiny Silva said. "We take this very seriously, and we are actively investigating this incident."
Silva also noted that APD is very early in the investigation and therefore all information is preliminary and may change as the investigation continues.