Updated 10/24/2012 10:36 AM
APD: No charges expected for Sixth Street driver shot at by officer
Footage of incident from YouTube. Contains foul language.
Austin police say they will not file charges against a woman who drove on East Sixth Street after it was closed down early Saturday morning, injuring two pedestrians.
Officers now say the woman was getting off her shift at a Sixth Street bar when she got into her car, which was legally parked on Sixth and San Jacinto, an area which is typically shut down due to high pedestrian traffic on Friday and Saturday nights.
According to statement from APD, it was at that time a crowd of up to 15 people began “striking” at the woman’s vehicle, causing her fear for her life. The woman drove erratically down the Sixth Street, causing one person on her vehicle to fall off. She then injured a second pedestrian who also was in the crowd.
Squealing tires caught the attention of APD officers who were about 40 to 50 feet away. Officer Robert Krummel, a three-year veteran to the department, only saw the vehicle attempting to travel at a high rate of speed down a closed street, and believed he was in danger of being struck. It was at that time fired several shots, hitting the windshield of the woman’s vehicle.
The woman stopped her car immediately and was taken into custody.
Again, APD officials said Tuesday no charges are expected to be filed against the woman, but she is still subject to a grand jury investigation.
Dan Powers works on Sixth Street and empathize with the woman who was attacked.
"It is a real challenge leaving downtown when you have a lot of happy, intoxicated revelers running around," he said.
Cmdr. Stephen Deaton with the Austin Police Department says police brass are reviewing how they handle cars parked along Sixth Street on weekend nights.
"Sixth Street—the problems and the positives that come along with it—are constantly changing,” Cmdr. Deaton said. “We are always going to take into account situations like this to look at how we do things in the future."
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call APD’s Special Investigations Unit at (512) 974-6840.