UT Prez Powers: 'Our Campus is Safe'

Police say students played key role in stopping shooter

UT President Bill Powers
UT President Bill Powers

At a press conference happening right now, police said that quick response from law enforcement and student help in identifying, and tracking the suspect meant this morning's shooting incident at UT was quickly and effectively contained and resolved.

UT Police Chief Robert Dahlstrom said it appears this morning's shooter was in fact a student. The Travis Co. Medical Examiner's Office is on-scene now and will help verify the shooter's identity, he said. Notably, Dahlstrom said that police have investigated and determined there is no second suspect.

Mayor Lee Leffingwell praised the coordination and cooperation among law enforcement agencies, noting that UTPD and APD had conducted a joint training session just last month; Acevedo said the police departments have worked together this summer and over the past few years to coordinate responses to threats such as that posed this morning by the shooter.

The shooter fired at least four rounds from an AK-47, Acevedo said, before he retreated from police and headed inside the Perry-Castaneda Library where he killed himself.

Acevedo commended the students who "led the way to the suspect."

The campus has been given the all clear, but the area around the library will remain an active crime scene for the remainder of the day, Dahlstrom said.

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS POST

University of Texas, APD, UTPD, UT, police

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