Texas cops never saw a gun when they fired more than a dozen rounds at a 17-year-old Black teen holding nothing but a water bottle last week.
One Austin police officer fired another volley of rounds 12 seconds after the initial shots while Anthoneil Williams II lay on the ground, clinging to life.
“I’m reloading,” said Austin Police Officer Jake Pitcher after firing the second volley, who less than three months earlier was cleared by a grand jury for a 2025 shooting involving an armed man.
“Stop moving! Stop moving!” Pitcher yelled at Williams, who was soon pronounced dead at the scene.
Body camera video released by Austin police does not include the moments when the three officers realized Williams had been carrying a water bottle instead of a gun.
However, the department released portions of a 911 call they say Williams made, reporting a teenager who may have had a gun — which they claim indicates “suicide by cop.”
“I’m looking out my window, there seems to be a kid, it looks like he may have a gun, I’m not sure,” said the caller to the dispatcher.
“I’m not sure, but he keeps messing with his waistband. I’ve seen something in his hands that looks like a firearm, but I’m not sure.”
“Is he brandishing it or does he just happen to have it?” the male dispatcher asked.
“Brandishing it, I’ll say yeah,” the caller responded.
“Towards someone or is he by himself?” the dispatcher asked.
“By himself,” the caller responded.
The call was then relayed to police by a female dispatcher who said, “Complainant states he sees a gun.”
“A kid with possibly a gun, states the subject is brandishing the gun … and then disconnected.”
Watch the video below.
‘This Was a Suicide by Police’
Austin police say officers shot and killed Williams at 4:02 a.m. on July 24, just over ten minutes after he called 911.
Bodycam video shows officers arriving at a community park on Baden Lane in the Pioneer Hill subdivision in Northeast Austin, where they encounter Williams wearing black shorts and a black long-sleeved T-shirt.
“Keep your hands out,” Pitcher tells him after stepping out of the car. Officers Alexis Cruz and Avery Zucchi also approach Williams.
“You’re doing alright?” Pitcher asks as he walks toward Williams, who responds, though it is unclear what he says.
“Keep your hands up,” Pitcher and another officer say.
Williams then lifts his shirt and reaches for an object in his waistband, and the officers open fire.
That object turned out to be a water bottle.
In a press release, Austin police say officers tried to de-escalate the situation by directing Williams to keep his hands up.
The release states that Williams lifted his shirt and reached for his waistband, and at 4:02 a.m., Pitcher, Cruz, and Zucchi fired, striking him.
Police did not find a firearm at the scene, and investigators later determined that the 911 call reporting a person with a gun came from Williams’ phone.
The release does not state how many rounds the officers fired, nor does it mention Pitcher’s second volley of shots after Williams was already on the ground.
Williams was pronounced dead at 4:25 a.m.
“All points are indicating that this was a suicide by police,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a press conference that same day.
The department has placed all three officers on paid administrative leave while it investigates the shooting.
The Commonality of Suicide by Cop
Austin police did not release the teen’s name, but his father, Anthoneil Williams, identified him to local media.
The father did not elaborate on additional details but said the family launched a GoFundMe to raise money for “his funeral service, as well as other support for my family.” The GoFundMe has raised $5,929 as of this writing toward a $7,500 goal.
At this point, it remains unclear why Williams would have wanted to provoke a suicide-by-cop scenario.
The recording of the call to dispatch shows the dispatcher asking the caller what services he needed.
“Do you need police, fire, EMS or mental health services?” the dispatcher asked.
“Uh … police,” the caller responded.
The caller then provided the address of the community park and told the dispatcher he was looking out his window and seeing a teenager possibly brandishing a gun.
Even if the caller had requested mental health services, police would still have responded alongside EMS and a mental health crisis team.
Police would likely have secured the scene first before allowing a mental health crisis team to engage.
While no national system tracks suicide-by-cop deaths, a 1998 study determined that 11 percent of police shooting deaths in Los Angeles County involved suicide-by-cop.
A 2019 report from the Police Executive Research Forum states that agencies nationwide have tried to reduce these incidents by using “de-escalation” techniques.
However, Austin police claim officers attempted to de-escalate this encounter “by directing the person to keep his hands up” — a command a suicidal person is unlikely to follow.
