The Mayor of Austin, Texas, has issued a statement after four people were shot and injured at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival this weekend on Sixth Street.
According to KVUE, the ABC affiliate in Austin, Mayor Steve Adler said that there was “an abundance of officers” hired for the festival but stressed that the issue is really around gun control.
“At the end of the day, what was our most significant challenge, I understand, is we just have so many people carrying guns,” the mayor remarked.
“Used to be when you had two groups that were fighting – which is, apparently, what happened this weekend, wasn’t [a] random shooting, the public generally wasn’t in danger – was these two groups, when they, in the past times when they would get into arguments, they would get into fistfights.”
He continued saying, “Now, under state law where they’re allowed to carry guns when a fight like that breaks out, somebody is pulling out a gun.”
Around 2 A.M. on Sunday, Mar. 20th, the Austin Police Department was notified of a shooting on the 400 block of East Sixth Street.
The shooting injured four people. However, their injuries were minor and not expected to be life-threatening.
Few details have been released other than a dispute between two groups, and the gunplay was not a random act.
Also, the APD has taken one suspect into custody.