Austin police name man killed in SWAT operation last week

Austin police have released the name of the man killed by officers last week after he took a hostage at a gas station, attempted to make a Molotov cocktail and fired at officers during an hours-long standoff with the SWAT team.

The police department said officers first spotted 35-year-old Alfonso Gonzales driving a stolen car in the 8000 block of Salt Springs Drive before heading to a nearby Texaco gas station shortly after 12:30 p.m. on May 21. According to a news release sent out Wednesday, officers approached Gonzales in the parking lot, but he ignored them and entered the store.

After following him into the house, Austin police officers saw that he had a gun on him. Although they ordered him to drop the weapon, Gonzales did not, so officers left and called a SWAT team, the release said.

After speaking with a store employee, officers learned that another employee was locked in an office.

During the hours-long standoff, Gonzales was observed pacing around the store, spilling lighter fluid everywhere and making suicide threats. Gonzales also shot officers multiple times, police said.

Police hostage takers repeatedly ordered Gonzales to leave the store empty-handed and with his hands open. Gonzales refused these requests and also indicated that he was aware of the other person in the store.

While officers attempted to get the clerk out of the store, police say Gonzales threatened to shoot anyone who approached the building. Police then fired pepper spray into the store and at Gonzales, but he still refused to leave the building.

More than four hours later, just before 4:50 p.m., according to the department, officers saw Gonzales making an improvised Molotov cocktail. Fearing that this could seriously injure or kill the trapped employee, police decided to shoot Gonzales. The officer who shot Gonzales has been with the department for 16 years, the release said.

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