This article has been updated to include new information.
The Travis County sheriff’s office is investigating a shooting involving a deputy and a suspect in a stolen car in a grocery store parking lot near Steiner Ranch, officials said Friday.
The suspect, who they identified as a 17-year-old male from Pflugerville, had injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The female deputy, whose name was not released, was unharmed, said sheriff’s spokesperson Kristen Dark.
The Austin Police Department notified the sheriff’s office at 9:10 a.m. Friday that it was tracking a stolen car that might be entering the sheriff’s jurisdiction, Dark said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
She said a deputy encountered the stolen car at 9:30 a.m. in the 5100 block of RM 620 in a Randall’s grocery store parking lot. The shooting happened after that, Dark said, and the entire incident lasted a few minutes.
The teen began to evade in the stolen vehicle while the deputy attempted to detain him, officials later said, resulting in a single vehicle collision with a tree in the parking lot. During the brief struggle, they said, the teen grabbed a pistol and fired, shooting himself in the leg. He was taken into custody and treated at the scene by Austin-Travis County EMS.
“It was not a situation where the public was in danger,” Dark said.
Officials said the teen has pending charges for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, prohibited weapon, evading and aggravated assault on a peace officer.
Officials said the on-scene investigation confirmed no deputies did not fire their weapons during the arrest, so the sheriff’s office will investigate the case and not the Texas Rangers.
“I’m so thankful the outcome wasn’t worse than this,” Sheriff Sally Hernandez said in a news release. “We could easily be in a situation where the deputy or the suspect could have been killed.”
It’s not unusual for the Travis County sheriff’s office to help local police departments track and intercept stolen vehicles, Dark said.
“Auto theft is something that is common in our area, as are burglaries of vehicles,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis County sheriff investigating shooting involving deputy and suspect in stolen car
Reporting by Claire Osborn, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
