Garrett Foster Shot and Killed by a Driver in Austin
By: Christa McWhirter
AUSTIN, TX — On July 25, Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran, was shot and killed in Austin’s first protest-related fatality. The shooter, an unidentified man, was detained and released that night with no charges as it is an ongoing investigation.
According to protesters, the demonstrations the past two months have begun peacefully. This particular evening was no different. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the group of protesters was marching back to APD from the Capitol when a man in an SUV attempted to drive into the crowd before being surrounded and pulling a gun. Foster, who was open-carrying, approached the vehicle and the driver fired five shots in his direction. Mr. Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, said in an interview with “Good Morning America,” her son was hit three times.
Several eyewitnesses to the shooting have recalled similar stories. According to these accounts, the protesters were peacefully crossing the intersection at Congress Ave. and 4th Street when a vehicle rushed the crowd before slamming on his breaks.
“My train of thought was: ‘Oh my god, that car just hit someone, I need to go see if they need help,’” eyewitness Lindsay LaGrange said of her experience. “After watching a video of a Jeep run through protesters earlier that evening, I was half expecting it to happen.”
Elyssa Solinger, another protester on the scene, similarly said, “it seemed like, perhaps, some people had been run over and then the car stopped and the protesters started hitting and kicking the car.”
When the suspect stopped his car, he pulled out his gun. At this point, Garrett Foster, who had been pushing his fiancée in her wheelchair, approached the vehicle with his own gun pointed at the ground. Moments later, eight total shots rang out.
On Sunday, Chief Brian Manley cited the driver’s claim that “they had shot someone who had approached the drivers window of their vehicle and pointed a rifle at them.” Protesters on the scene contradict Manley’s statement claiming Garrett never aimed his semi-automatic weapon at the driver.
In the same press conference, Manley confirmed that, of the eight total shots, the first five were made by the driver while the final three were made by a protester somewhere else in the crowd. The person in the crowd who returned fire was also detained, questioned and released that same evening.
“The first five came from the driver, no question,” Brandon Keaton stated in an Instagram direct message. “I was in front of the car and watched him pull the gun through the windshield.”
Amid claims that Mr. Foster pointed his gun at the driver, Keaton responded, “He never raised his rifle. I was in front of the car — maybe 15 feet away. He never raised his rifle.”
“Then the driver rolled down his window and pulled out, pointed a gun out the window,” Solinger said. “And, it was bam, bam, bam, bam, bam; and I saw the flashes, they were bright orange and yellow flashes.”
“We were just marching in a group and all I could hear was gunfire and everybody just hit the f — king ground or ran,” Beth Altobelli said after the incident. “But when it stopped, when the gunfire stopped, everybody ran towards him. And he was just, Garrett was just laying in the street.”
LaGrange recalled that “it felt like forever for the ambulance to get there.” However, after the budget meeting last week, she is not positive the response time was the fault of APD.
“It took at least 15 minutes for the ambulance,” Altobelli said. “Then, when he was in the ambulance to take him away, they wouldn’t let people that were trying to just comfort Whitney, comfort her.”
In corroboration with Altoelli’s account, another eyewitness recalled her experience with APD officers after the shooting.
“An APD officer yelled and came at us fairly aggressively, telling us to get out of the street,” LaGrange remarked. “I didn’t realize we were in the street, but we complied — although he wanted us to be moving 5x faster than we were able to, being in shock and all.”
According to LaGrange, officers were herding people onto the curb to clear the area when one of the officers pushed a protester and “a crowd of protestors started yelling and pushing back and [she] saw a bunch of other cops jump in to jostle with them.”
Soon after, the protesters dispersed — many went home after the shocking event, while others continued to march in his honor. Protesters were back at APD when, around midnight, they got word that Garrett Foster died.
“They’ve been participating in these protests almost every day for the past 50 days,” Mrs. Foster said to GMA. “He was actually telling me that they were extremely peaceful and that he hadn’t experienced any of the negative stuff that we’re seeing sometimes in the media.”
According to Altobelli, Mr. Foster only started exercising his 2nd Amendment right two weeks ago in response to police no longer allowing protesters to march in the streets.
“They don’t let us march in the streets anymore, so I got to practice some of our rights,” Mr. Foster told Hiram Gilberto Garcia, who was live-streaming the interview on Periscope. When asked if Foster thought he would need to use the weapon he responded with a swift, “No.”
Mrs. Foster, during her GMA interview, said “he was doing it because he feels really strongly about justice and he’s very heavily against police brutality and he wanted to support his fiancée.”
Throughout the rest of the evening, and into the early hours of Sunday, protesters would refer to Foster as a gentle giant.
“I want to make it clear that Garrett was never a violent person,” Altobelli stated. “Garrett was the sweetest soul. All he did was stand out there with Whitney and talk to everybody with the utmost compassion.”
“He was there for Black Lives Matter, he died fighting for Black lives, and he deserves to be honored.”
*Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. Updates will be made as information comes to light.
