AUSTIN, Texas The 32-year-old man accused of opening fire in a Target parking lot, killing two adults and a child, had a history of arrests for domestic violence and assault. He is being held Tuesday on capital murder charges.
Authorities have not yet identified a motive for Monday’s shooting, which forced store employees and shoppers to seek cover immediately. Austin police named the suspect as Ethan Nieneker, who investigators say fired at shoppers and then stole two vehicles during a getaway that ended with his arrest across the city.
Nieneker is held at the Travis County jail facing two counts of capital murder and one count of murder. Jail records do not list an attorney for him.
A police news conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Monday that the suspect had a “mental health history” but did not provide further details.
Online court records reveal that Nieneker had been arrested multiple times in recent years in both Travis County, which includes Austin, and neighboring Williamson County.
His Travis County arrests include misdemeanors for criminal mischief and driving while intoxicated, as well as three felony domestic violence arrests. He was convicted in 2016 of assault causing bodily injury in a family violence case and briefly jailed. Another charge around that time was dismissed, though it is unclear if they were related. A 2019 felony assault charge on a family or household member was dismissed three years later when prosecutors could not locate the victim.
Williamson County records show repeated encounters with law enforcement, including two dismissed misdemeanor family violence cases in 2015. He was also convicted of marijuana possession in 2012 and entered a no-contest plea to criminal mischief in 2016.
Monday’s shooting took place amid the busy back-to-school shopping season ahead of the new academic year.
An adult and a child were pronounced dead at the scene, while another adult died after being transported to the hospital, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. The child’s age has not been released.
Police reported that after the shooting, Nieneker stole a car from the Target parking lot, crashed it, and then stole another vehicle from a dealership before being apprehended about 20 miles south of Austin. Officers used a Taser to detain him.
Chief Davis said they believe one of the shooting victims was the owner of the car stolen from the parking lot.
This Target shooting comes just over two weeks after an attack at a Walmart store in Michigan, where a man accused of stabbing 11 people on July 26 has been charged with terrorism and multiple counts of attempted murder.
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