Crime
3 killed, multiple injured after shooting at Target in Austin
AUSTIN, Texas — Three people were killed and several others injured, including a child, after a gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a Target store in North Austin on Monday afternoon.
The suspect, a 32-year-old white male wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt, is now in police custody.
According to the Austin Police Department (APD), the shooting occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. in the Target parking lot located on Research Boulevard.
Witnesses reported the suspect firing multiple rounds at shoppers before carjacking a vehicle at the scene. One of the victims is believed to have been the owner of that vehicle.
After fleeing the scene, the suspect crashed the stolen car and proceeded to hijack a second vehicle from a Volkswagen dealership.
He then led officers on a pursuit through Austin, ultimately being located and apprehended on La Costa Drive, approximately 18 miles south of the shooting site.
APD Chief Lisa Davis confirmed the suspect was subdued with a Taser before being taken into custody without further incident.
Chief Davis stated that all three fatalities occurred at the Target parking lot.
In total, four individuals were injured, including a child, and three victims succumbed to their injuries at the scene.
The identities of the deceased have not yet been released.
Authorities say the suspect has a criminal history in Texas and is known to have a mental health history.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation.
The incident prompted extensive road closures in the area, including the 8000 block of the MoPac southbound frontage between Executive Center Drive and Anderson Lane.
While main lanes of MoPac remained open, police urged the public to avoid the area during the active investigation.
Due to the ongoing crime scene, APD advised that vehicles parked at the Target will remain secured until investigators have completed their initial work.
Officials are expected to release further updates as the investigation progresses.
Crime
Mustapha Kharbouch Now-Deleted 2024 Manifesto Published in Institute for Palestine Studies Recovered
Brown University has removed multiple online references to student activist Mustapha Kharbouch in the days following a deadly campus shooting, a move that has drawn public attention amid heightened online speculation—despite law enforcement officials confirming that no suspects or persons of interest have been identified in the investigation.
Archived versions of Brown University webpages show that Kharbouch, a first-year student at the time, was previously listed in several university-affiliated roles, including as a student assistant and Cultural Programming Coordinator connected to the Global Brown Center.
His academic interests were described as focusing on International and Public Affairs and Anthropology, with involvement in Middle East–focused academic, cultural, and student programming.
Those pages are no longer accessible, and Kharbouch’s social media accounts have also been deactivated.
A verified buyer from the United States with the name “Mustapha K.” reviewed a 9MM muzzle brake through the Wing Tactical website on December 29th, 2024 — the same caliber used in the Brown shooting.
There are approximately a few hundred people in the entire United States with that first name + last initial combination.
University officials have not issued a public explanation for the removal of the online profiles.
The changes occurred as online speculation intensified in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with social media users circulating screenshots of archived university pages and past writings associated with Kharbouch.
Among the materials resurfaced by online users was a 2024 essay authored by Kharbouch and published by the Institute for Palestine Studies as part of a special student essay series titled Genocide in Gaza: Student Essays — Brown University Encampment 2024.
The essay, titled “I Hear the Voice of My Ancestors Calling: From the Camps to the Campus,” was published on August 13, 2024, months before the shooting. The piece is a first-person reflective essay examining Palestinian identity, intergenerational memory, student activism, and questions of hope amid displacement, war, and protest.
The article includes poetic excerpts adapted from “Ancestors Song,” a chant popularized during student-led Palestine solidarity actions at Brown University, and documents Kharbouch’s participation in campus organizing efforts, including sit-ins, hunger strikes, rallies, and the Brown Gaza Solidarity Encampment.
The essay situates these experiences within a broader discussion of decolonial thought, feminist theory, and Palestinian history, including reflections on the 1948 Nakba and the author’s family history as a third-generation stateless Palestinian refugee raised in Lebanon.
The content of the essay is ideological, autobiographical, and academic in nature.
There is no reference to violence on campus, nor any indication of intent or planning related to criminal activity.
The Institute for Palestine Studies has not issued any statement suggesting the piece is under review or connected to the shooting.
Despite widespread online conjecture, law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Providence Police, have not named Mustapha Kharbouch as a suspect or person of interest, and have publicly stated that there is no evidence linking him to the shooting.
Investigators have emphasized that the case remains active and that conclusions are being guided strictly by verified evidence.
Authorities have cautioned against drawing inferences from online speculation, warning that unsubstantiated claims can compromise investigations and cause undue harm to individuals not implicated by facts.
Media analysts and campus observers have suggested that Brown University’s decision to remove online references may have been taken as a protective or precautionary measure, particularly as misinformation and harassment proliferated across social media platforms following the attack.
Similar actions have been taken by institutions in other high-profile incidents to limit doxxing, targeted harassment, or the misinterpretation of publicly available biographical information during periods of heightened tension.
Brown University has not confirmed whether the removals were temporary, administrative, or safety-related in nature.
Authorities continue to urge the public to rely on confirmed information released by law enforcement and to avoid amplifying unverified narratives.
As of the most recent update, no arrests have been announced, no individuals have been publicly identified as suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with credible information related to the shooting has been asked to contact investigators directly.