Campus Alert Archive
UT Austin

Eight P.M. Shots by the Moody Center: UTPD Searches Empty Campus for Flannel-Shirted Suspect

TXshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

Around 8:00 p.m. CDT on Saturday, July 13, 2024, UT Austin police responded to reports of gunshots fired near the Moody Center at 2001 Robert Dedman Drive, in the area between the basketball arena and the former site of the Frank Erwin Center. UTPD pushed a UT Alert warning the community to avoid the area as officers, Austin police, and Texas DPS troopers searched for a suspect described as a white or Hispanic man with long dark hair in a flannel shirt. No injuries were reported.

Alerts
2
Response
0 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
The University of Texas at Austin
Public R1 · TX
~53,000 studentsUT Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstructionFOX 7 Austin (KTBC) reporting the contents of the UT Alert161 chars
UT Alert: Shots fired near MLK and Robert Dedman Dr. Avoid the area. Suspect is a white male with long black hair, white and black flannel shirt, black backpack.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Pushed shortly after the 8:00 p.m. CDT 911 call on Saturday, July 13, 2024
Reconstructed wording — local TV reproduced the suspect description and area but did not screenshot the exact SMS; the suspect description text is preserved as broadcast
Names the intersection of East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Robert Dedman Drive — the southeast corner of campus, near the Moody Center and LBJ Presidential Library
The initial description (white male, long black hair, flannel) was later refined by detectives reviewing surveillance video to a more detailed description with clothing brand specifics
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstructionKXAN Austin (NBC affiliate) summary of the UT Alert sequence125 chars
UT Alert: All clear. UTPD has searched the area near MLK and Robert Dedman Dr. No injuries reported. Investigation continues.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed wording — KXAN's coverage describes the all-clear timing and content but does not preserve the exact SMS verbatim
The all-clear came after a multi-agency search by UTPD, the Austin Police Department, and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers
No suspect was apprehended; the investigation continued via surveillance video review and a public assistance request issued the following week
Context

Background

UT Austin's July 13, 2024 shots-fired alert came on a quiet summer Saturday evening, when most of the 53,000-student campus was empty. UTPD received the 911 call around 8:00 p.m. CDT, with witnesses reporting possible gunshots near the Moody Center at 2001 Robert Dedman Drive — the new basketball arena that had opened in 2022 to replace the Frank Erwin Center. The location is on the southeast corner of campus, near the LBJ Presidential Library and the intersection of East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Robert Dedman Drive. UTPD issued a UT Alert warning students, staff, and Austin residents to avoid the area, then conducted a coordinated search with the Austin Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers. No injuries were reported, no additional gunfire occurred, and no suspect was located on scene. The following week, UTPD took the unusual step of releasing surveillance images and a detailed suspect description, asking the public to help identify a white or Hispanic male in his 20s wearing a black Miami Heat cap with a red brim. The Moody Center incident illustrates the increasing role of campus police in policing the porous edges of large urban universities, where MLK Boulevard separates campus from a dense entertainment district and the LBJ Library complex. UT Alert is operated through the UTPD Incident Notifications system.
Analysis

Key Findings

The Saturday-evening, summer-session timing meant the campus was nearly empty, but UTPD still pushed a full UT Alert — a precaution that reflects how the boundary between campus and Austin's dense surrounding neighborhoods is treated
UTPD's subsequent release of detailed suspect imagery, including clothing brand specifics down to the Nike swoosh, illustrates how campus departments are increasingly leaning on the public for surveillance-video identification
No suspect was ever apprehended in publicly available records, raising questions about how campus shots-fired alerts close out when there is no arrest or definitive identification
Outcome
Officers searched the area and were unable to locate a suspect, but [UTPD released surveillance images and asked the public for help identifying him](https://police.utexas.edu/news/utpd-seeks-community-assistance-identifying-suspect-shots-fired-call). The suspect was described as a white or Hispanic male between 20 and 30 years old, 5'7" to 5'9", medium build, wearing a black Miami Heat cap with a red brim, a gray Reebok hoodie with logo, dark denim pants, white Nike shoes with a black swoosh, and carrying a black backpack. No additional shots were reported after the initial incident.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    UTPD searching for suspect after report of shots fired near LBJ library (KXAN Austin)
    kxan.com
  2. News
    Shots fired on UT Austin campus, suspect at large: UTPD (FOX 7 Austin)
    fox7austin.com
  3. Official
    UTPD Seeks Community Assistance in Identifying Suspect from Shots Fired Call (UT Police Department)
    police.utexas.edu
  4. News
    UT police looking for suspect in connection with shots fired call (KXAN Austin)
    kxan.com
  5. Official
    Incident Notifications (UT Police Department)
    police.utexas.edu
Tags
shots-firedbig-12-flagshiptexasut-alertmoody-centerlbj-librarysummer-incidentno-suspect-locatedmulti-agency-response
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion