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Austin Ranks in Top Five For Number of Deaths by Police This Year

The Guardian
The Guardian released a comprehensive analysis of data on deaths by police in the U.S. So far this year, 6 people in Austin were fatally shot by police.

Austin has the fourth-highest total number of people fatally shot by police this year, according to a new analysis by the Guardian Newspaper.

The report shows Austin has six deaths caused by police in 2015 – the same as New York City. All six of those shot reportedly had a gun, or one was found near the scene. In one case the weapon turned out to be a BB gun.

Houston had the second-most deaths caused by police this year with eight. Los Angeles, with 11 so far this year, tops the list.

The list represents the actual number of deaths by police in each location, without factoring in population. You can toggle the graphic to see per capita totals as well. Texas takes the number two spot on the unadjusted list, and 13th on the per capita list.

The six who've been fatally shot by police this year in Austin were: Sawyer Flache, Robert Mesch, Cassandra Bolin, Richard Munroe, Michael Holt, and, just over this past weekend, David Lepine. Three have occurred in July so far. All six remain under investigation.

The data, which you can dive into here in more detail, breaks down the shootings into categories like the ages of the victims, whether victims were equipped with firearms, and the victims' races.

Locate the data, visualizations, and information about each individual death here.

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