A 17-year-old boy contacted 911 regarding a potential gunman in an Austin Northeast park. Within minutes, he had been fatally wounded beside a children’s play area following shooting by police. The object found in his waistband turned out to be a water bottle.
Anthoneil Williams II was shot to death on Friday morning, July 24, 2026, by police officers from the Austin Police Department. Police said Williams placed the 911 call himself from his own phone around 3:51 a.m., reporting a young person who appeared to have a gun and was messing with his waistband.
“It looks like a firearm but I’m not sure,”
The caller said, according to released audio. He arrived at the neighborhood park about 3:55 a.m., sat on a low wall near the playground, and waited.
Officers reached the scene around 4:02 a.m. Body-camera and surveillance video released by APD show them approaching Williams, asking if he was OK, and ordering him to show his hands. Footage depicts him lifting his shirt, reaching toward his waistband, then extending both hands forward in what police described as a posture
“as if he was pointing a weapon at the officers.”
Three officers Jake Pitcher, Alexis Cruz, and Avery Zucchi fired. Williams was pronounced dead at 4:25 a.m. No firearm was recovered. Investigators determined the object was a water bottle.
APD Chief Lisa Davis told reporters the evidence pointed to a possible “suicide by police.” The term describes situations in which someone appears to act in ways intended to provoke officers into using deadly force. It is an investigative theory based on the self-initiated call, the teen’s behavior on scene, and the absence of a weapon not a medical or legal diagnosis, and not a confirmed finding.
“All points are indicating that this was a suicide by police,”
Davis said, while stressing the investigation remains active.
The three officers have been placed on paid administrative leave. APD’s Special Investigations Unit is conducting a criminal probe alongside the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, with a parallel internal affairs review underway. No charges have been filed.
Family members, friends, the Austin NAACP, and community activists have rejected the suicide-by-police framing. Nelson Linder, president of the Austin NAACP, said after reviewing the video:
“I’m sorry, I can’t accept that based on the value of a young man’s life. We need a higher standard; more caution before you make that kind of decision based on deadly force.”
Demonstrations and vigils were held, with water bottles being left at the park as a form of symbolism. A GoFundMe was set up for the funeral expenses.
Williams, who has been described by his friends as someone who is kind and thoughtful, does not appear to have had any link to the APD. This incident has sparked debates locally and nationally on how police officers react to a threat, how mental illness impacts use-of-force situations, the racial disparity within use-of-force results, and the tension between decision-making and responsibility.
