Fausto Cardenas

UPDATE 6: The Austin Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety have confirmed the identity of the suspect in today’s Texas State Capitol shooting incident as 24-year-old Fausto Cardenas. He has been charged with deadly conduct, a third degree felony, for firing a small caliber handgun on the capitol’s south steps.

The Travis County Sheriff‘s Office confirmed earlier that state troopers have the suspect in custody at the Travis County Jail. The capitol will remain closed to the public until 7am Friday morning.

Exact details are scarce. DPS confirms that shots were fired at around 12:15pm today on the south steps of the capitol. The suspect surrendered without incident and was taken into custody. Photographers LaVida Studios have posted images of the arrest. An early and unconfirmed eyewitness report suggests that the shots were fired directly into the air. In what may or may not be a related incident, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, tweeted, “An individual came into my Austin Senate office today acting strangely,staff called security, moments later shots fired on Capitol steps.”

More information as we receive it.

This article appears in January 15 • 2010.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.