AUSTIN, Texas – So far, no charges have been filed in the deadly H-E-B shooting in North Austin, but police are sharing more information on what led up to the shooting.
Austin police identified the person who died as Michael Rosario Jr., 32.
APD says it started as a shoplifting incident.
“I went to the grocery store a little bit before 4 p.m. to pick up some groceries, and I was waiting in the self-checkout line and I heard something that I immediately recognized as gunshots,” an anonymous witness said.
APD responded to reports of a shooting at the H-E-B on Canyon Ridge Drive on Friday, Sept. 27. Initially, it was reported to be an active shooter, but was later determined not to be.
A caller told APD that a person was shoplifting and lunged at a security guard with a knife.
According to APD, the investigation revealed the security officer was trying to get Rosario to exit the store. Rosario then took out a knife and armed himself with a hubcap as a shield.
“It was a very kind of surreal moment. Some people got hit on the ground. Some people ran away. Some people stood where they were standing,” said the witness.
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After the taser was ineffective, Rosario charged at the security guard, prompting the security guard to shoot at Rosario.
Rosario was taken to a local hospital, but later died from his injuries.
A security expert FOX 7 Austin spoke with says if an individual comes toward an officer with an edged weapon, they have legal authority to use lethal force.
“If their life is threatened or if an individual’s life is threatened to cause bodily harm, injury or death, they have the right to use force up to lethal force to protect their asset or protect those individuals,” said Michael Matranga, the CEO of a security consulting firm in Texas.
Days later, the community is still reeling from the shooting.
“The fact that this person is now dead and that it happened in my own community and that it happened in my supermarket,” said the witness.
H-E-B confirmed with FOX 7 on Monday it was a third-party security officer who fired the shots, not an H-E-B employee. APD later stated the security guard worked for Allied Universal Security Services.
APD told us the two didn’t know each other.
We are not identifying the shooter at this time because he has not been charged.
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