When a gunman shot two people and was on the run near multiple elementary schools and high schools in September 2025, the response became a chaotic back and forth between Austin ISD officials who struggled to make decisions on whether to close or delay the school day. Internal documents show AISD and the Austin Police Department failed to communicate with each other and with families in the nearby Zilker neighborhood.
A year after the incident, AISD and APD officials say they have been working to make communication better between the two agencies. And while parents said seeing the internal messages affected their trust in the district, they have hope the agencies learned from the incident.
“I feel at ease knowing they have done the work. It’s only as good as execution and hopefully, we don’t have to learn whether or not the protocols work,” Becky Jean, a Barton Hills parent said…