Alex Gonzales, 27, was shot by Austin Police Department officers in two separate incidents, leading to his death. Off-duty officer Gabriel Gutierrez describes a “road rage incident” in which he was driving his personal car, and Gonzales cut him off. Gutierrez then pointed a gun at him, according to the 911 call transcript, and shot Gonzales. Gonzales was driving with his girlfriend and their infant child.
Gutierrez then called for police backup. APD officer Luis Serrato responded to the scene. In the bodycam footage, Serrato is heard yelling at Gonzales, who by then was standing near the passenger side door of his car, to put his hands up and not reach into the car. Gonzales, bleeding, ignored the calls as he moved to check on his 2-month-old child. When Gonzales appeared to reach inside the vehicle, officers fired multiple shots—nearly a dozen, according to the footage—at him. Two anguished screams follow.
Scott Hendler, the attorney for Gonzales’ parents, said, “”He can be seen walking very unsteadily toward the back of the car using the car to hold him up. You can see him walk behind the car. He has no weapon in his hand. He doesn’t brandish a weapon. He doesn’t have anything in his hand. He doesn’t point anything at the officers.”
The attorney added: “[Gonzales] walks to the other side of the vehicle where his girlfriend and the mother of his child is lying on the ground, wounded, to check on her,” Hendler said. “She asks him to check on the baby. He then opens the back door to look in and leans in to check on the baby, and that’s when he’s shot.”
Gonzales was pronounced dead on the scene. His girlfriend survived multiple gunshot wounds after being treated at a nearby hospital. Their infant child was unharmed. Officers found a gun on the driver’s side floorboard of Gonzales’ car.
After nearly five months, body camera footage from the deadly shooting was finally released. According to a department policy enacted last year, APD is supposed to release video footage of police shootings within 60 days. Four days before the deadline, chief Brian Manley determined a delay was needed “to address investigative and prosecutorial interests.”
Bertha Delgado, family representative of Gonzales, called the delay unacceptable. Delgado also asked for the arrest and indictment of the officers who shot and killed Gonzales.
Officer Luis Serrato and Gutierrez have since been placed on administrative leave.
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