AISD police officer injured after shooting at Northeast Early College High School in Austin

An Austin Independent School District police officer has been shot and injured at Northeast Early College High School in Austin. Authorities are searching for the suspect and the school was placed on lockdown.

Austin ISD released communication stating the school was in lockdown "due to shots heard in the area" and asking everyone to avoid the campus.

The officer was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The school district said in a post on X that the officer had suffered injuries during an altercation in the parking lot.

The Austin Police Department deferred comment on the incident to the school district. Attempts to reach the district for more information were not immediately successful.

The city of Austin's nearby Permitting and Development Center — located at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, just over a mile west of the high school — has been locked down as result of the shooting, said Erik Johnson, a city spokesperson. The center will remain locked down until further notice, he added, saying people with appointments can buzz in for entry or call ahead to reschedule.

Police scanner traffic details aftermath of shooting

According to police scanner traffic, emergency responders received a call around 10:40 a.m. from a school district police officer who was shot at Nelson Field, the school’s stadium.

The officer told law enforcement he was ambushed by the assailant, who had his firearm pointed at him when the officer emerged from Northeast Early College High School.

The injured officer walked to the nearby firehouse, located at 7200 Berkman Drive, and was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Officers could be heard saying on police scanner traffic the suspect fled the scene on foot. He was described by witnesses as a bald male, between 30 and 40 years old, wearing a beige sweater and pants.

How parents can be reunified with students

The campus was "safe" but was still on lockdown as of 12:45 p.m., the district said in posts.

The district began a "controlled release" of students, going classroom by classroom, shortly before 2 p.m., said Angel Vidal, a spokesperson for the school district.

Families should head to Delco Activity Center, 4601 Pecan Brook Drive, to pick up students. Students will be transported to the center by bus.

The district asked that parents stay in their cars and bring a form of ID.

Students who do not have a family member to pick them up will be taken home by bus, the district said.

Families wait near campus

Concep Montoya, the parent of a Northeast Early College High School student, was standing with other concerned parents at a gas station near the school around noon. She said she found out the school was on lockdown after her daughter, who is a sophomore, sent her a text.

She immediately went to the scene to try to find out more information. At that time, the school district had not sent information via text or email to parents about the incident, Montoya said. The situation made her "so angry" that she was "shaking," she said.

Although her daughter told her she would not be let into the school, Montoya said, "I was like, 'I don't care. You're there. So I'm there. And I'm going to stay there until you leave with me.'"

About a dozen family members of students stood on Berkman Drive, hoping to pick up their children. When Trashon Thompson heard about the incident, she rushed over to Northeast to try to pick up her niece, a 10th-grader who was hiding with other students in a locker room.

Although she heard from her niece that the students were safe, but it’s still scary, she said.

Angie Hernandez was texting her 10th-grade son, who was in the hallway when the school went on lockdown, she said.

Her son ran into a classroom. It’s scary to hear about any shooting incident near her child’s school, she said.

“How can we send our kids to school (when) we don’t know what’s going to happen?” Hernandez said. “How can we trust our kids to the school system?”

This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

Staff writers Bianca Moreno-Paz and Chase Rogers contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin ISD police officer shot, inured at Northeast Early College High