Alfonso Gonzales Obituary, Man killed during SWAT standoff in southeast Austin Identified by APD; Police Standoff with Alfonso Gonzales Ends in Tragic Shooting. Police have identified the suspect involved in a tense standoff as 35-year-old Alfonso Gonzales, the sole occupant of the vehicle at the time of the incident. Officers found Gonzales inside the business with a gun, and he refused to leave or drop his weapon, prompting the SWAT team to be called.
According to police, Gonzales began pacing back and forth with the gun and pouring lighter fluid onto the counter. During this time, a gas station employee was locked inside an office space, while a cook managed to escape the premises. Saxx Williams, the owner of Sax’s Tacos located inside the gas station, recounted his harrowing experience to KVUE. He heard gunshots while cooking and cautiously approached to see what was happening. Gonzales then allowed him to leave, but the store manager remained inside.
“I was just inside cooking and heard a gunshot … So I walked around the counter real slowly to see what was going on, and the guy behind there pops out, tells me, ‘Yo, get out the store,'” Williams said. “So I come out the store and the minute I walk out the store, there are already three or four cops standing on the side of the door with guns.”
Despite knowing there was an employee trapped inside, Gonzales continued to ignore officers’ commands. He later fired shots at law enforcement and began preparing a Molotov cocktail by pouring lighter fluid into a container with a rag, police said. Officers attempted to use pepper spray projectiles to lure Gonzales out, but he remained inside the gas station.
After several hours of standoff, Gonzales was shot by police and taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
KVUE also spoke with a neighbor, Miguel Uribe, who witnessed the hours-long SWAT standoff just feet away from his house. “I went to the window, and I noticed all the police cars and everything,” Uribe said. “Right away, I picked up the phone and started recording everything. And sat there and watched pretty much the whole process.” The incident underscores the danger and unpredictability of such confrontations, leaving a community to grapple with the aftermath of a tragic loss.
