The man suspected of fatally shooting three people, including a child, outside a Target in Austin, Texas on Monday, was identified as Ethan Nieneker, police said.
The Austin Police Department posted a mugshot of Nieneker, 32, which shows bruises, cuts and blood on his face.
UPDATE: The suspect in yesterday’s triple homicide has been identified as Ethan Nieneker, White male, 32 years of age. pic.twitter.com/8fYjGGEuyq
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) August 12, 2025
The shooting occurred around 2:15 in the store’s parking lot. The suspect had fled by the time police arrived and found three people shot in the parking lot. Nieneker stole a car from one of the victims. He stole another after crashing the first vehicle before he was stopped about 18 miles away and taken into custody.
Police monitor the scene near a Target after a shooting in Austin, Texas, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)
According to Travis County Jail records, Nieneker faces charges of capital murder by terror threat, capital murder of a person under 10 years of age and first-degree murder. Records related to Nieneker show a 2017 conviction on a felony charge of assault causing bodily injury to a family member.
The victims’ identities have not been revealed.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said during a Monday news conference that Nieneker has a history of mental health issues and had previously been placed on emergency holds, but did not offer specifics.
He’s previously been arrested for driving while intoxicated, criminal mischief, and violating bond or protective orders.
Police work at the scene of a fatal shooting at Target on Research Parkway in Austin, Texas, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
Due to the ongoing investigation, customers were not allowed to drive their cars out of the parking lot until 10 p.m.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/08/12/austin-police-id-target-shooter-ethan-nieneker/