Shooting at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse?!?!

December 8, 2008

UPDATE2: Better article from KXAN with some more details… looks like the suspect walked off the job last week and came back and shot a manger.

UPDATE: Check this update from the Austin American Statesman with a suspect now named.

Need more sources but a comment on the blog from KEYE.

A manhunt is on for a person who shot and killed someone inside a restaurant in the Steiner Ranch area near Lake Travis this afternoon.

The shooting happened at the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, 5424 Steiner Ranch Rd., just south of RM 620 at approximately 4 p.m.

According to Austin police, a person walked into the restaurant and shot a person inside the building. The suspect then ran out toward a wooded area.

Austin police, Travis County Sheriff deputies and a StarFlight helicopter are searching for a suspect in the RM 620 and Bullock Hollow area.

Anonymous

Is traffic blocked up at 620? KXAN is reporting that 620 is blocked off.
Just Me

I just drove home at 5:30. 620 was clear but they have the entrance to Bullick Hollow area closed (West side of 2222 and 620)
JA

Oh goodness, how sad and scary.
Anonymous

All of the news stations are saying that the manhunt was called off due to darkness and will resume Tuesday morning, and that the man’s SUV was found on 2222 on the other side of 620, so it is unlikely he returned to the Steiner Ranch area. Nevertheless, be a little extra careful out there!
I live here

I live in Stiener Ranch, and this truly is not the type of place for such tradgedy. We closed our b
I live here

I live in Stiener Ranch, and this truly is not the type of place for such tradgedy. We closed our blinds and locked our doors as soon as we heard the news from our frantic neighbors. I am 5 minutes away from the Steakhouse, and I heard a gunshot, and I knew something was wrong. It was terrible. My daughters school didn’t even go on lock down. This was an awful thing. We are all very frightened.
http://sundream.com James Dean

Your daughters school did not go on lockdown because the shooting was at 4pm and school was already out, and an off duty police officer saw the suspect park his SUV and walk into the woods not near a school.
http://sundream.com James Dean

I don’t consider the suspect armed and dangerous. I consider him stone cold dead. He was reported to have told a woman hiding at the restaurant that he was not going to hurt her. He also could have shot either of the other two managers. He shot the manager he got into a verbal altercation with several days ago. There is no doubt in my mind that he has already taken his own life.
Brian Byrne

Interesting theory, but wouldn’t they have found him by now?
Anonymous

The schools did have a modified lockdown today (Tuesday). Here are the deatils per the LeanderInsider:
River Place, Grandview Hills, Steiner Ranch and Bush elementary schools, along with Canyon Ridge Middle School have been under modified lockdown today. Modified lock down means classes continue as usual, but students have little or no access to outside activities. As per my daughter, they weren’t outside at all. No one was allowed to go to their Quest program (it’s outside in the portals). They were only allowed out of their class to go to PE & get lunch from the Cafe , but bring it back to class.
http://sundream.com James Dean

Not unless they stumbled right on the body. The dogs used were search dogs and not cadaver dogs. Remember the dark haired girl that congressman was accused of murdering? Her body was found in a park they had already searched. There is a lot of acreage out there and they only had 15 deputies searching. Just seems to me he would have went a little further to spend the rest of his life in the wild. He is boxed in there and he knew it was over. The officer that saw him walk into the woods made no mention of a backpack. He was not prepared for this, other than loading his gun.
Anony Mouse

How do you know he was unprepared. He may have had a cache out in the woods. That’s what a prepared person would have done anyway so they could move faster. He may have had another vehicle waiting on another road on the other side of the woods or at boat at the lake. I think he’s either long gone or he’s in a cave somewhere. That area is riddled with caves. BTW, they were using Department of Justice cadaver dogs in the search.
NV

Very sad news. I have much sympathy for the victim and shooters loved ones. It is always the friends, family and loved ones left behind that need our support. God bless!
http://www.jawsnpaws.net Heather Stetten

I ate their with my fiance for the first time Saturday night…I guess when the altercation took place…I will never eat here again now that this has happened…the food was HORRIBLE. But now I don’t think I can bring myself to try it again in 6 months since a man was shot there…we are very fortunate that the shooting was not the same night as the argument. I feel horrible for the family, especially his fiance and definitely for the owners of the steakhouse…how shocking to have that happen to a place that was only open barely a week.
http://sundream.com James Dean

Anony Mouse, how do you know he was prepared? Also, the local news media has said MANY TIMES that they we going to SWITCH to cadaver dogs from SEARCH dogs sometime today…it was just my opinion, but I will wager you the deed to your house against a million dollars that they find his body from a self inflicted gun shot.
http://sundream.com James Dean

Sure the freak could have a boat stashed or another car waiting…but he is not James Bond, he was a busboy for two weeks…doesn’t sound like a guy who could afford two cars and a boat. He had an argument and exploded…guys like that do not prepare like a serial killer does.

I guess those years with a criminology major as a roommate at Michigan State has made me an amateur sleuth
Anonymous

It’s 5 am and I have been up all night AGAIN going over all of the things that keep racing through my head…Are the kids safe at school? Where is this guy now? Is this a “one and done” or could this guy be in a desparate state of mind and if he gets tired of being out in the cold will he make a dramatic, movie-like entrance into some innocent family’s home?

One thought keeps coming back over and over. Maybe I REALLY AM one of the snooty Steiner residents I keep reading about all over the place.

I find myself concerned that the Steakhouse (of which I am a big fan) has brought trouble into our neighborhood. I keep reading and hearing how these two young men knew each other from a previous workplace and some pre-existing issue may be at root of the first murder in our neighborhood that I am aware of.

I have read a lot of idiotic and negative remarks on this and other blogs about various issues that local residents have against places like the Steakhouse, Fion, QPG, Lakeside, etc. I have tried to “sleuth” through some of the comments, those who may actually may be behind them, and why? And I think I understand some of them now.

Steiner Ranch is home to lots of different people with lots of reasons for moving here. But one reason keeps pounding at my brain…communal seclusion.

A community that is just far enough away from it all that we don’t have to deal with the ugly side of downtown; yet close enough we can get have some REAL CITY fun if when we want to.

Kind of like watching your sister’s kids you know?

Well now we have this big time business on The Ranch that brought in a whole mess of employees that don’t live here. Some of them brought their fan bases with them. They come from all the areas of Austin we hear about or see on the news. Downtown, East Side, Williamson County, and across-the-dam (which I affectionaltely call the ATD crowd – you know like New Yorkers refer to the B&T crowd) are all represented.

Now, we don’t get to just play with our nieces and nephews…They are spending the night!!!

Prior to the tragic events at the Steakhouse, I was angry at those comments that ripped into our local businesses…but now I am starting to sympathise (if not empathise) with the folks behind those comments that seemed out of place and over-the-top.

Have I truly begun to tilt my nose ever higher? Go ahead, call me snooty; but what other issues are coming our way now that we’ve made the “big time”?
JA

Anonymous, while you make some valid points, I can say as a resident of Steiner and a mother of a teenager, I’m confident problems that take place in downtown or other areas surely happen here. Ask any student at the middle school or high school and I can confidently say the problems people perceive exist only in other places or more low-income school districts definitely exist here, and things that are just as serious as in other parts of town.

I am not going to call you snooty because many of your concerns are valid and we all have our own reasons for living here. I think many love the seclusion of Steiner, however to believe local restaurants and businesses that employ non-Steiner residents create problems is simply not accurate in my opinion. I come from the opposite end of the spectrum in that I tend to welcome that moreso than want that.
JA

Anonymous, while you make some valid points, I can say as a resident of Steiner and a mother of a teenager, I’m confident problems that take place in downtown or other areas surely happen here. Ask any student at the middle school or high school and I can confidently say the problems people perceive exist only in other places or more low-income school districts definitely exist here, and things that are just as serious as in other parts of town.

I am not going to call you snooty because many of your concerns are valid and we all have our own reasons for living here. I think many love the seclusion of Steiner, however to believe local restaurants and businesses that employ non-Steiner residents create problems is simply not accurate in my opinion. I come from the opposite end of the spectrum in that I tend to welcome that moreso than want that. I do, however, appreciate our opinion and feel you are definitely not alone in your ideas.
JA

I meant to say I appreciate your opinion…bad laptop, sorry!
KB

Anonymous, seriously?! Do you not see the many construction workers, landscapers, maids or just folks wanting to head down to the lake coming into our neighborhood every day? This is one random, thoughtless idiot who did a very vicious thing. We live *slightly* outside of Austin but Steiner by no means is removed from any “urban” activity. Check out the Police Blotter report in some of our newsletters and you will see that violence happens here every day.

I understand that this was a scary event that hit very close to home. Lets not have the crazy acts of one person influence a community. Don’t give this person any more power, influence or time than he has already taken. We have many “strangers” that come into this neighborhood every day who provide outstanding service and help us keep this community what we know and love. Let’s focus on that and move on.
anonymous

JA and KB,

Thanks for your percpectives. I think being up late made me cranky. I know that Stiener and the entire 4 points area is poised to explode with new business, population and even more new visitors in our area from outside THE RANCH.

Austin in general is moving from its adolescent age and into young adult-hood. Some will choose to resist that fact and others will embrace it. ( just like the 1000′s of other mid-size cities enjoying the recent population spike)

I guess if I really wanted to be away from it all…I would have moved somewhere else.
anonymous

correction: perspective…sorry. I wish there was a spell check on here.

BTW – how does Google know what ads to put up on here? Like Home Security Systems; Anxiety and Depression doctors; books on how to be the “Prick” you always wanted to be?

Talk about capitalizing on tragedy! Sick.
Scott

Google’s system spits out ads based on the content of the page. If this page had many references to “swimming pools” there would likely be ads for sun-screen.
NV

I still think this is a great place to live! I love the fact that we have a school and some local resturants in the neighborhood. And nature at our doorstep, we are far enough away from the city life. This was a crazy act and I doubt it will be repeated by anyone anytime soon. It is very sad but will not change me. I locked my doors before and still will. I walked down Quinlan feeling safe and still do, just not on the day after this tragic act.
In your neighborhood…

I think its sad that a man who decided to walk into a restaurant… who was mad at his boss… and decided to shoot a young innocent man, is being given the opportunity to ruin the livelyhood of this restaurant, it’s owners, its staff and the community. The owners had intentions of bringing something great to the community and this RANDOM act of hate could have happened anywhere.

Reference Columbine, the shootings in the Amish School, the many shootings in grocery stores…. it can be anywhere. It makes you realize that we are not living in a bubble… Steiner Ranch can fall victim to a tragedy just as much as anywhere else. You need to support this victims family, fiance and all of the managers staff who now have to learn to rebuild without him.

The more you talk about this sick asshole, the more you fuel his fire and everything hateful he stood for. Let them find him dead and his name NOT remembered, because it doesnt deserve to be.
Anonymous

“In your neighborhood” – looks like you got your wish.

You are right about supporting those folks…has anyone heard about a memorial fund or anything we can do to help (in addition to eating at the restaurant)?
JA

I haven’t heard about any memorial fund but do know the steakhouse is open for business again.
LB

Hi there! Happy New Year to everyone!
My husband and I are thinking about relocating to the Steiner Ranch area. We think it is a beautiful area. I have spend hours researching the best places to live. Austin seems to be a nice place. The crime rate overall in Austin is low. Bad things happen everywhere. This incident will not keep us from considering a relocation to the Austin area.
TH

KVUE ran a follow up tonight. Nice to hear things are going well for them.

This URL should work if interested in checking it out:

http://www.kvue.com/video/index.html?nvid=320363&shu=1