Austin police are investigating the city’s second murder case of the year involving a crashed car after responding to reports of a shooting in South Austin Friday night.
Officers were initially dispatched at 8:40 p.m. Friday in the 500 block to East Stassney Lane, where they found a wrecked car a few blocks away, according to the sergeant. Lee Knows, police spokesman.
Police said the victim, a woman believed to be in her 20s, was found “with obvious injuries.” Austin firefighters and Austin-Travis County EMTs also arrived at the scene, but the woman died around 8:50 p.m.
Investigators on Saturday collected information from witnesses. Police said the incident does not pose a permanent threat to society.
The first investigation into the 2023 Austin police killing began on Thursday after officers also responded to the crash in the 8600 block of North Lamar Boulevard. Police believe the driver of that car, identified as 20-year-old Fritzgerald Bisseret, was shot to death.
“Detectives believe Bisseret was shot dead by an unknown suspect who left the area immediately afterwards,” police said in a statement Thursday.
Anyone with more information about this case can call the Austin Police Department at 512-974-8477 or submit information anonymously through the Metropolitan Crime Service at austincrimestoppers.org or call 512-472-8477 . There may be a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
Austin ended 2022 with 71 murders, down from the record 89 deaths recorded in 2021. But last year’s number of homicide cases is the second highest since the 1960s, when Austin police began keeping those records.
In December, American-Statesman reported that Austin’s per capita homicide rate in 2022 appeared to be about the national average.
