Man shoots woman, himself in front of TCSO deputy

UPDATE: The victim has been identified as 26-year-old Ibeth Aurora Lopez of Elgin, Texas

A GoFundMe has been started by friends and family to help the family pay for memorial service's and to help support Ibeth's daughter through her youth. To donate, click here.  

 


 

The Travis County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal shooting near Southeast Metro Park. The shooting happened Wednesday afternoon in the 4000 block of Burch Drive, near Highway 71 East. 

According to TCSO, a female in her thirties was pronounced dead on scene. A male in his thirties was taken to St David's South Austin Hospital with a gunshot wound. According to EMS, he was in critical condition. 

WATCH TCSO PRESS CONFERENCE REGARDING DEPUTY-INVOLVED SHOOTING

According to the Bastrop Police Department, officers were dispatched to Sports Clips in response to 'a disturbance in progress'. Upon arrival, officers learned that a male had entered the business, displayed a gun, and demanded one of the female employees that he knew leave with him. 

The female employee complied and left the business with the suspect. 

The suspect and the female departed the business and headed westbound on Highway 71.

TCSO officers were in the area to help monitor a protest staged by high school students at Del Valle High School. According to TCSO, students had staged a protest where they would walk out of class and down Highway 71. The highway was shut down in both directions by deputies to keep those students safe. 

According to TCSO, the suspect and the victim came upon the traffic being caused by the student protest while traveling westbound on Highway 71. The suspect decided to pull out of traffic and into the parking lot of a church. The suspect and victim began to walk across the field near Burch Road. 

A Travis County Sheriff's Deputy drove past the suspect and victim walking close to the road and decided to make contact with them. When the deputy attempted to approach the suspect and victim, the suspect pulled a gun and shot the female victim. The deputy engaged in fire with the suspect who used his own weapon to shoot himself in the head. He is now in critical condition at St David's South Austin Hospital. 

This is an ongoing investigation and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.