Four people killed in Texas hostage standoff

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Four people, including a SWAT officer, are dead following a hostage standoff at an Austin residence after a woman made a distressing 911 call to officials in the middle of the night.

Austin Police Department Interim Chief Robin Henderson said that officers responded to the call made around 2.49am on Saturday in which a female caller was “screaming for help” and saying “someone was stabbing her”.

About 10 minutes later, the first officers arrived on the scene in the 9300 block of Bernoulli Drive.

Officials quickly determined that two other injured individuals were inside the home with the suspect. A third victim was able to escape and was located by officials in the neighbourhood surrounding the residence.

The victim, a female, said that the suspect was still inside the home and armed with a knife. The woman was promptly transported to a local hospital for injuries she sustained.

At approximately 3.00am officers forced their way into the residence to rescue the two additional victims. That’s when the suspect started firing rounds at the officers.

The officials subsequently backed out of the residence without discharging their weapons at that point. The officers called for a SWAT team to respond to the scene.

About an hour later, a team arrived at the residence to rescue the two other victims. The officials forced their way into the home for a second time. The suspect immediately began firing at the officers again.

Multiple officers then discharged their firearms, Chief Henderson said.

It was communicated over the radio that two officers were injured in the exchange. The officials were transferred to a local hospital for treatment. Officer Jorge Pastore later succumbed to his injuries. He’d been serving on the force since January 2020.

He is survived by his wife, two stepsons, parents, and two sisters, the department said in a written statement.

Officials did not reveal the identity of the other officer who had been injured but said he was in stable condition.

The suspect was hit by gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene. The two other victims officials had tried to save were found inside the home with fatal injuries and pronounced dead. Officials did not release identifying information for them when contacted by The Independent.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” a spokesperson for the Austin Police Department said in a written statement. “We kindly request that you continue to monitor our social media platforms for any updates.”