AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities in Texas have arrested a 19-year-old man on a murder warrant for the killing of a tourist during a mass shooting in downtown Austin that also wounded more than a dozen people, prosecutors in the city said Thursday.
Officers with a fugitive task force took De’ondre White into custody Thursday afternoon on a warrant for the killing of 25-year-old Douglas John Kantor during the shooting on Austin’s 6th Street, the Travis County District Attorney’s office said in a statement. Prosecutors said they also intend to seek multiple aggravated assault charges against White.
White was arrested without incident in Killeen, a community about 70 miles north of Austin, and was being held in the local jail ahead of an initial court appearance, the city police department said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.
White’s arrest comes two days after prosecutors dropped criminal charges against two juveniles who police initially arrested in the June 12 shooting. Authorities have said the shooting stemmed from an argument between two groups of teenagers from Killeen.
The two juveniles who were arrested were involved in the dispute and had guns, Austin Interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon said Tuesday, but ballistics evidence showed that Kantor was killed by a shot from White’s weapon.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza on Thursday thanked the Austin residents for their patience and offered assurances that authorities now have the right person.
“Based on both forensic and eyewitness testimony, we have full confidence that the person responsible for the shooting has been arrested and is no longer a danger to our community,” Garza said. “At this time, we believe that Mr. White was the only shooter.”
