Target store shooter fired randomly and had a history of mental illness, police say

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A shooting outside a Target store in Texas that killed three people, including a 4-year-old girl and her grandfather, began with the gunman randomly firing on an employee collecting shopping carts and set in motion a terrifying sequence of stolen cars and crashes that ended with him arrested naked holding a Bible, police said Tuesday.

Austin police said Ethan Nieneker, 32, killed the Target worker then opened fire on the grandfather and his granddaughter before stealing their sport utility vehicle. The violence sent store employees and shoppers fleeing for cover.

Police Chief Lisa Davis said Nieneker had a history of mental health problems, but she was unaware of any specific diagnosis. Court records show he also had a history of arrests for domestic violence and assault

“What happened yesterday was an unprovoked and deliberate attack, a deliberate act of violence,” Davis said at a news conference. “Innocent lives were taken in broad daylight in a place where people should feel safe to run their everyday errands and to live their everyday lives.”

Police said that the Target employee, Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca, 24, was taken to a hospital where he died. Adam Chow, 65, and his granddaughter were pronounced dead at the scene while Chow’s wife sustained minor injuries. The name of the child was not released.

In the hour after the shootings, Nieneker caused multiple car crashes, tried to steal a water truck, stole a woman’s vehicle and assaulted her in the process, Sgt. Nathan Sexton said. Niekeker also tried to get inside a Waymo self-driving taxi, went to the home of an acquaintance and vandalized it, and was later spotted in a residential backyard without his clothes on, the officer said.

Officers found Neineker walking naked after he ditched his clothes in a portable toilet, police said. He was holding a Bible and was subdued with a Taser when he would not comply with demands.

“He said that he was Jesus,” Sexton said.

Police said Nieneker has been charged with two counts of capital murder and one count of murder. Jail records do not list an attorney for him.

Online court records show he had a history of arrests for domestic violence and assault, and was arrested several times in recent years in both Travis County, which includes Austin, and neighboring Williamson County.

His arrests in Travis County included misdemeanors for criminal mischief and driving while intoxicated, and three arrests on felony domestic violence charges. He was convicted of a charge of assault causing bodily injury family violence in 2016 and briefly sentenced to jail.

Another charge within days of the 2016 episode was dismissed, according to court records. It was not immediately clear if those two charges were related. Another charge of felony assault on a family or household member in 2019 was dismissed three years later when prosecutors could not locate the victim.

Williamson County records show repeated run-ins with law enforcement, including two cases of misdemeanor family violence in 2015 that were later dismissed. He was also convicted of possession of marijuana in 2012 and entered a no contest plea to a charge of criminal mischief in 2016.

Monday’s shooting came as back-to-school shopping was in full swing ahead of the upcoming academic year. It also comes just over two weeks after an attack at a Walmart store in Michigan. A man accused of stabbing 11 people at the Traverse City store on July 26 has been charged with terrorism and multiple counts of attempted murder.

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Stengle contributed to this report from Dallas.