Officers who killed Austin gunman “undoubtedly saved lives” and review is closed, DA says after political backlash

The officers who shot and killed the man who gunned down people enjoying a night out in Austin will not face a grand jury hearing, and the district attorney said Wednesday that his review of their actions is complete. Travis County DA Jose Garza’s comments followed a day of confusion and political backlash over his office’s policy of sending all police shootings to a grand jury for review.

Garza said Wednesday that his office’s Civil Rights Unit has completed a thorough review of the incident and that no charges will be filed against the officers. In a letter to the police chief, Garza wrote that the three officers’ actions “undoubtedly saved lives and prevented additional injuries.”

“It is clear and indisputable that at the time the officers were responding to an active shooting in a mass casualty situation, and that the subject of the shooting was in the act of using unlawful deadly force. For these reasons and based on the facts now known to us, we are closing our review and no action will be taken,” he wrote.

Garza said Tuesday that suggestions that he would seek charges in the killing were “intentionally false” and political in nature, calling the officers heroes. “It should go without saying that my office is not seeking any charges and would not seek charges,” he said. “The accounts to the contrary are false, intentionally false, and are being peddled for obvious political reasons.”

His statement came on the heels of political backlash, as Republican lawmakers reacted to news that lawyer Douglas O’Connell had been retained by the Austin Police Association to see the three officers through a potential grand jury probe.

“This… is INSANE,” Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott chimed in to decry the DA’s policy: “These police officers are heroes who saved lives. Whatever the DA does, I will have the final say in the fate of these officers,” he posted to X on Tuesday.

The officers arrived within minutes of the shooting, a little after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, shooting and killing the gunman, identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. Diagne, who had an AR-style rifle and a Quran in the SUV he was driving, shot a handgun through the window of his vehicle at a crowd enjoying a night out at a bar, killing three and wounding a dozen.

Garza campaigned on a policy to send every police shooting case to a grand jury for review and has done so since he took office in 2021. A special investigations unit within the police department typically looks into any police shootings or allegations of misconduct, according to a source familiar with the process. The findings are sent to the DA’s office, which is often already conducting its own investigation. 

Garza did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment on this story. 

Michael Bullock, president of the Austin Police Association, accused Garza of creating an environment of distrust.

“I appreciate that DA Garza has publicly stated he will not seek any charges against our officers,” Bullock said in a statement posted to X. “My hope is that the DA understands he has built a dysfunctional and distrusting relationship with law enforcement in Travis County,”  he said.

O’Connell said the three officers he is representing understand and respect the officer-involved shooting review process. Their main concern had been the possibility of a lengthy grand jury proceeding.