AUSTIN, Texas — A man dressed as Santa Claus is accused of shooting three people, two critically, at a Halloween party in Austin, Texas early Sunday.
Austin police said the shooter is in custody.
The gunman knew the victims and had been attending the party, according to police detective Lee Knouse.
Austin-Travis County EMS said a man and a woman were critically injured, and a third suffered serious injuries. Police said a fourth victim refused medical treatment at the scene.
The victims were described as two women in their 30s and a man in his 20s. City medics rushed all three to Dell Seton Medical Center in downtown Austin for treatment.
Police were first called to the scene at a home in Central Austin in the city's idyllic North Loop neighborhood just after 6 a.m. Sunday morning.
Officers apprehended the alleged perpetrator after they were notified that he went to a second location in the same block and “made contact” with other individuals, though no violence was reported at the second location.
The suspect is receiving medical care, but did not have serious injuries, Knouse said. Officials couldn’t say how the suspect was injured, but said police officers did not have to use force during the arrest.
The Austin Fire Department and the Department of Public Safety also responded to the call.
Typically, Knouse said, police do not expect an uptick in violence around the Halloween holiday.
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