By Diane Pantaleo
Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Texas — Late Tuesday, Austin police found two people dead inside a doctor’s office near the intersection of 35th Street and Jackson Avenue in Central Austin after an apparent hostage situation.
An Austin police SWAT team spent several hours attempting to reach and negotiate with the people inside before officers entered the building.
Here’s a look at what we know about the situation so far. We will be updating as police provide more information.
What happened?
Police first responded to reports of the hostage situation at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. After trying to reach the people inside the doctor’s office for several hours, police sent in a mobile robot with a camera, which spotted the body of one person.
A SWAT team that later entered the building discovered a total of two bodies.
Earlier, the SWAT team could be heard negotiating with someone inside the building.
“You don’t deserve to go through this… for all you have done for others… that is why I want to help you work through this. You have saved a lot of lives,” a hostage negotiator could be heard over the loudspeaker, according to an earlier Statesman report.
Police have not released any additional information on the incident at this time.
What we know about the victims
At this time, police have not publicly identified the two people found dead inside the building. No information on how they died has been released.
It is also unclear whether the two people were the only victims involved in the incident.
Neighboring homes evacuated
While police and the Austin SWAT team were responding, several nearby residents were instructed to either evacuate or stay inside their homes.
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