AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Police Department’s Robbery Unit is requesting the public’s help with identifying a suspect involved in a robbery in East Austin earlier this year. 

The robbery occurred at a Family Dollar store at 3851 Airport Boulevard on May 28 at 11:05 a.m. The suspect entered the store and tried to steal a barcode scanner and a beverage. 

The suspect was confronted by an employee, who was assaulted during their attempts to prevent the theft. 

The suspect is described as:

• White male
• 35 to 45 years of age
• Approximately 5’5″ to 5’7″ tall
• Thin build
• Light facial hair

The suspect was last seen wearing:

• Purple T-shirt
• Tan or khaki shorts
• Black and white Nike shoes
• Brown leather messenger bag

Anyone with any information should contact APD’s Robbery unit at 512-974-5092. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest. 

Leave it to Austin, Texas, residents to rally together by way of Reddit amid a global technology outage.

The outage occurred Friday morning, effectively grounding flights around the world and disrupting services at banks, on-air media outlets, hospitals and more. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is believed to be behind the outage. The director of CrowdStrike Overwatch clarified on X that the outage was not necessarily due to a “whole faulty update” but rather a “faulty channel file.”

The cybersecurity company also stressed the issue behind the outage was not due to a cyberattack. Regardless of how the widespread outage came to be, Redditors are sharing information about the technology predicament on the r/Austin subreddit, including which local resources are down, who might be impacted and pointing out CrowdStrike’s local ties.

CrowdStrike is based in Austin, one of many Texas cities that were recently impacted by a Spectrum internet outage in the wake of Hurricane Beryl making landfall. While some Reddit users tossed around the idea the two outages might be related, it seems unlikely.

Some Reddit users reported that Austin 911 was down in the early hours Friday and that Baylor Scott & White Health facilities also were impacted by the outage. LoneStarLive.com reached out to Austin-Travis County EMS about whether Austin 911 call centers were affected by the outage and has yet to hear back. It appears Austin’s 311 nonemergency hotline currently is operating.

Baylor Scott & White Health provided LoneStarLive.com with the following statement when asked if their facilities were affected by the outages and if so, how it was being handled: “Our priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of those we serve and our team members. Patient care is safely continuing as we work through issues related to the technical disruption that is impacting computer systems across the globe.”

Most things appear to be up and running at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA), as Reddit user Moontowers commented they made it through security and IT systems appeared to be working around 8 a.m. ABIA did advise travelers to check their flight status with their specific airline before heading to the airport on Friday, as many flights have been delayed or canceled due to the outage. LoneStarLive.com reached out to public information officers at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport about how the facility has been impacted by the outage but has yet to hear back.

CapMetro services were briefly disrupted by the outage, but the public transportation provider shared an update on social media just before 9 a.m. that revealed “all CapMetro systems are back up and running.”

AUSTIN, Texas – The City of Austin is home to numerous greenbelts, which always carry the risk of wildfire, especially under drought conditions and red flag warnings. Now, crews are better prepared.

On July 18, city leaders, representatives from the Austin Fire Department and several other departments marked a major milestone in protecting Austin from wildfires.

Council member Alison Alter announced that, as of this summer, every Austin firefighter has completed “Responding to the Interface” training, an advanced level of wildfire training. 

The program started in Austin through a collaboration with the International Association of Firefighters.

“I am very confident that the completion of this course by all Austin firefighters is going to bolster the effectiveness of our response to wildfire, ensure better protection for first responders, our community and our natural resources. I am so proud of our city’s commitment to public safety and community resilience. And, I’m excited to see that AFD will be supporting other jurisdictions, especially in this region, to implement this life-saving training,” said Alter.

Austin is the largest city in the country to put all of its firefighters through the Responding to the Interface training.