Austin Police Department Officer Julie Schroeder, a seven-year veteran, shot and killed a narcotics suspect late Thursday night.

At 11 p.m. the Southeast Area Command Street Response team was following up on residents' complaints of drug dealing in the Bitter Creek area. Officers spotted three suspects in a blue and silver Chevrolet Suburban.

Patrol officers stopped the SUV at the intersection of South Pleasant Valley Road and Quicksilver Boulevard. When two officers approached the SUV, the front passenger fled the scene.

Officer Michelle Barton approached the SUV and began to put the driver into custody.

Schroeder approached Daniel Rocha, 18, who was in the back seat and attempted to arrest him. As Sgt. Don Doyle arrived, police said Rocha began a violent struggle.

"The second officer approached the passenger … A struggle began with the officer and that passenger … and during that struggle, the officer shot the suspect," APD spokesman Kevin Buchman said.

During the struggle, Schroeder fired her gun one time and hit Rocha. First aid was administered and then a request for an ambulance went out. Rocha was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:23 p.m.

Friends say Rocha’s death was unjust. They came back to the scene and set up a memorial.

“He [Doyle] had his hand on his back and her [Schroder] knee on his back. By then, he lifted up his shirt and said ‘I don’t have nothing’ and that’s when I heard the gunshot go off,” a friend said.

Police say Rocha was no stranger to police in the area. He had a warrant for Theft from a Person, a state-jail felony. Upon further investigation a small amount of narcotics were found.

Austin police have come under fire for a series of officer-related shootings, all of which involved minority victims.

“These kinds of incidents can very quickly destroy a community. If not done right, it destroys every progress we’ve made. This is critical for us because when it happens, it erodes confidence, it destroys trust and it affects everybody,” Nelson Linder of the NAACP said.

Some neighbors argue police were just doing their job. Drug use has been a problem in the area for years.

“Sometimes they would do them [drugs] right outside. There’s partying all night, drinking all night,” a neighbor said.

Schroeder has been placed on adminstrative duty pending an investigation.