Understaffing in the Austin Police Department in Texas has left residents concerned about crime in the city. 

Residents in the Montopolis neighborhood in Austin’s southeast told KVUE-TV crime in their area is getting worse. 

Delwin Goss told the station he woke up to gunshots in the neighborhood overnight Thursday, which he said has become shockingly common. 

“It’s making the hair on my arms stand up. To hear eight, nine, 10 shots. Just bam, bam, bam. Where are those bullets going?” he said. 

ALL CRIMINAL TRESPASSING CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ANTI-ISRAEL UT AUSTIN PROTESTERS

He said his neighbor told him she hears gunshots from her home between two to three times a week. 

“I don’t want to be shot sleeping in my bed,” he added. 

And although Austin Police told him when he called they were already investigating, he blames the department’s understaffing problem. 

Austin Police Association President Mike Bullock addressed the officer shortage Thursday, writing on X, “500 officers short has a real impact on businesses and Austinites who expect to be able to safely run a business and live in Austin. We’re so close to having a contract that can make significant progress towards ending the staffing crisis. Question now is if the city will actually prioritize making it happen.”

AUSTIN POLICE ARREST 6 PEOPLE AFTER ‘UNUSUALLY DEADLY’ SURGE OF OPIOID OVERDOSES 

Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly addressed the police understaffing problem this week while speaking on the Austin Police Association’s podcast, attributing it to funding cuts in 2020.

“Our staffing currently at the police department is a direct result of the failed policy that was passed in 2020 to remove funding for the police department,” she told Bullock. 

The Austin Police Department has faced a shortage of officers since being defunded in 2020.  (Dave Creaney/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“We want a fully staffed department that takes care of our city employees that are loving the work that they do cause then they’re going to do a better job of taking care of the community.”

Kelly told KVUE that council members are working to get more officers on the job so residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods. 

“He feels as if his part of the district, part of town, is neglected, and I firmly believe that everyone, despite what district they are in, deserves the opportunity to feel safe in their own homes,” Kelly told the station. 

While the city has brought down the homicide rate since a record of 89 in 2021, it still remains high. 

“I think the bottom line is that, over the last three years, we’ve seen the highest homicide rates we have seen ever in the city,” Bullock told FOX 7 earlier this year. “So, either way, no matter which way we look at it, we’re not on a good trend. We’re headed in the wrong direction.”

The city reported 71 homicides in 2022, 73 in 2023 and 42 this year as of Monday, according to KXAN-TV. 

In February, the department said the city was experiencing roughly one murder a week, FOX 7 reported. 

Austin’s 89 murders in 2021 came after the Austin City Council defunded the police in 2020, which caused massive staffing shortages that prevented police from responding to non-emergency calls. The previous record was 59 in 1984, long before Austin standardized its ambulance services and had the two level one trauma centers it has now. 

“I’ve watched it for the last five, six, seven years, and it just gets a little worse,” Goss said. “I see more open drug use in this neighborhood, more drug dealing.

“They’re not out here protecting me or my 85-year-old heart transplant neighbor or the widow that’s in her 70s next door,” he added.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Austin Police Department and Kelly for comment.  

Finally, it’s Week 1 of the Texas high school football season. Things kicked off around Central Texas with a pair of thrillers in the Austin area — Anderson’s 57-40 win over McCallum in the Taco Shack Bowl and Weiss’ 42-41 double-overtime win over McNeil. But tonight is the first Friday night of the season and there’s a full slate of games.

Follow this thread tonight for updates across Central Texas:

WATCH TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LIVE

Thrall 29, Thorndale 22

Lake Travis 17, Arlington Martin 10

Georgetown 47, Victoria East 0

Cedar Park 17, Harker Heights 7

Vandegrift 31, Dripping Springs 7

Glenn 7, Medina Valley 0

Rouse 36, Connally 3

Pflugerville 33, Leander 14

Hondo 29, Blanco 14

Lago Vista 14, Burnet 12

Victoria West 14, Lockhart 0

Johnson City 14, Granger 14

Round Rock Concordia 24, Leander Founders Classical 22

… and some 2nd quarter scores:

Cibolo Steele 35, Liberty Hill 14

Giddings 14, Jarrell 0

Marble Falls 29 Crockett 0

Travis 7, Akins 0

∙ Georgetown’s Jett Walker scored from 47 yards out to increase the Eagles’ lead over Victoria East to 47-0. Georgetown has scored on all seven possessions. Walker has rushed for 102 yards in the opening half on just seven carries.

∙ New Braunfels Canyon and Austin High are level at 14-14.

∙ They have reached the half at Vandegrift, as the Vipers hold a 24-point edge over Dripping Springs 31-7.

∙ Cedar Park leads Harker Heights 14-7 in the first. 

From Jay Plotkin, who’s covering the Lake Travis-Arlington Martin game tonight. First-half update:

Walker Moore’s interception late in the second quarter kept the Cavs leading Martin at the half. Moore’s interception of Brooks Brigance and 80-yard return set up a short Braydon Doane field goal to give the Cavaliers a 17-10 lead. Martin’s Brigance kept the Lake Travis defense on its heels early, but the Cavaliers’ secondary found its footing in the second quarter. After starting out 4-of-5 for 61 yards and a touchdown, Brigance finished the half completing just one of his final six throws for no yards and and interception.

Vann Hopping has rushed for both Lake Travis touchdowns.

∙ Marble Falls has raced out to a 14-0 lead over Crockett in the first.

∙ Regents leads Lorena 9-0 in the second stanza.

∙ Austin High has taken a 14-7 lead over New Braunfels Canyon in the second quarter. 

∙ Travis is up 7-0 over Akins in the second. 

∙ Lake Travis answers an Arlington Martin touchdown with a touchdown of its own as Vann Hopping ran 19 yards up the middle for his second score of the night as the Cavs lead Martin 14-10.

∙ LBJ now leads San Antonio Houston 27-0 with 2:16 in the first.

∙ Hays leads Elgin 10-0 in the first.

∙ At Vandegrift, the Vipers have expanded their lead over Dripping Springs to 28-7 in the second quarter. 

∙ Lago Vista is up 14-6 over Burnet in the first.

More Austin-area updates:

∙ Playing its first game as a Class 4A squad after two years in Class 5A, LBJ leads San Antonio Houston 14-0.

∙ The opening quarter up in Georgetown can’t end soon enough for Victoria East. There’s still 55 seconds to play and the Eagles have expanded their lead to 37 points after Max Muniz’s improbable touchdown catch off teammate Xavier Warren’s back at the goal line. (The Eagles had been called for an illegal formation penalty on their 41-yard field goal try on the previous snap, which forced them to go for it on fourth down.)

∙ Austin High and New Braunfels Canyon are tied 7-7 in the first. 

∙ Rouse leads Connally 29-0 in the second quarter, while Glenn is leading Medina Valley 7-0 also in the second. 

∙ Rouse has jumped out to a 15-0 second quarter lead over Connally.

∙ Victoria West leads Lockhart 7-0 in the second quarter. 

∙ Johnson City leads Granger 7-0 in the first.

∙ In a rivalry game, Thorndale has jumped out to a 15-8 lead over Thrall. 

∙ Lago Vista strikes first as the Vikings lead Burnet 7-0 in the first. 

∙ Cameron Yoe is up 7-0 over La Grange. 

∙ Vandegrift has taken a 14-0 lead over Dripping Springs. That game’s at Vandegrift.

∙ In Arlington, Tristan Naifeh’s 38-yard field goal has pulled Arlington Martin to within 7-3 of Lake Travis toward the end of the opening quarter.

∙ Georgetown is rolling Victoria East 30-10, having forced three turnovers in the first three minutes.

∙ In private schools, New Braunfels Christian leads Austin achieve 7-0 in the opening stanza. 

Remember when Georgetown was up 8-0. We’re still not even through the first quarter and the Eagles are up 22-0 over Victoria East. Georgetown has scored three touchdowns, and after the first two touchdowns the Eagles then recovered fumbles on the kickoffs.

How bad of a start is this for Victoria East? There’s 2:12 left in the opening quarter and the Titans have yet to run an offensive play.

Lake Travis punched in its opening possession, a 1-yard TD run by Vann Hopping. Chaston Ditta was 4 of 5 on the drive, completing short passes on the 47-yard drive. With 8:34 left in the 1st quarter, it’s Lake Travis 7, Arlington Martin 0.

Facing a third-and-21 on Georgetown’s own 29-yard line, Xavier Warren electrified the home crowd as he took a pass from Caleb McDougall 71 yards for a touchdown against Victoria East. With 10:56 left in the first quarter, Georgetown is up 8-0.

For the third consecutive season, Lake Travis will be opening the season with Arlington Martin. The Cavaliers will be looking to get their passing attack back on track after struggling throwing the ball last season (or at least struggled by Lake Travis standards).

The Cavs are coming off an 11-3 season in 2023 that included an upset over an undefeated Vandegrift squad in the area round of the Class 6A playoffs before bowing out of the postseason with a 21-14 loss to Westlake in the state quarterfinals. Here’s our preseason team glance, including three big questions the Cavs are facing this season.

Staff-wise, we all picked the Cavs this week.

Where Austin-area/Central Texas teams are ranked in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine preseason state rankings:

Class 6A: No. 5 Westlake, No. 8 Lake Travis, No. 24 Vandegrift

Class 5A DI: No. 11 Weiss, No. 18 Cedar Park

Class 5A DII: No. 8 Liberty Hill

Class 4A DI: No. 8 LBJ, No. 17 Lampasas

Class 4A DII: No. 5 Wimberley, No. 25 Lago Vista

Class 3A DII: No. 12 Blanco

Class 2A DII: No. 18 Granger

Anderson tops McCallum again: In a game that saw Anderson QB Max Gerlich throw for 7 TDs and run for another, Anderson outlasted McCallum 57-50 in the annual Taco Shack Bowl at House Park. Gerlich threw for 308 yards and added 138 on the ground, including the TD as the Trojans took their third straight Taco Shack win. We were there; here’s Rick Cantu’s game story.

Weiss survives McNeil without Brown: Playing without New Mexico State QB commit Jax Brown, Weiss edged McNeil 42-41 in overtime. Brown was lost for the season after suffering a season-ending injury in last week’s scrimmage against Waco University.

A shutout for the Hawks: Hendrickson posted its first shutout since 2019, as the Hawks clipped Belton 14-0. 

Eight in a row: Stony Point opened its season with its eighth consecutive season opening win as the Tigers edged East View 28-22.

Westlake’s opening statement: Westlake, our No. 1-ranked preseason area team, trailed Prosper 14-13 at halftime before reeling off 22 unanswered points in the second half as the Chaps notched their 43rd consecutive regular-season win, 35-14. Here’s our takeaways from the game.

Tonight’s Austin-area high school football schedule

These are all nondistrict matchups tonight.

The best game around tonight: Dripping Springs at Vandegrift, 7 p.m. These are both top-10 area preseason teams heading into the season, and both have hopes and expectations of a district title and playoff run. The Vipers probably have the edge, but this should be a good one.

The second-best matchup: Liberty Hill at Cibolo Steele, 7:30 p.m. Too bad this one’s not at Liberty Hill. Both programs are traditional playoff powers, so this is a great first-week pairing. It’ll give us the first look at the Panthers’ rebuilt running game.

Other games on the schedule. We’ll publish finals as we get them later:

Lake Travis at Arlington Martin, 7

Victoria East at Georgetown, 7

Leander at Pflugerville, 7

Bowie at Manor, 7:30

San Marcos at Hutto, 7

New Braunfels Canyon at Austin High, 7:30

Killeen Shoemaker at Round Rock, 7:30

Waco Midway at Westwood, 7

Hays at Elgin, 7:30

Killeen Chaparral at Lehman, 7:30

Lockhart at Victoria West, 7

Vista Ridge at Killeen, 7

Johnson at Cedar Ridge, 7:30

Travis at Akins, 7:30

LBJ at San Antonio Houston, 7

Bastrop at Alvin, 7

Connally at Rouse, 7

Crockett at Marble Falls, 7:30

Navarro at Eastside, 7:30

Northeast at St. Andrew’s, 7:30

LASA at Manor New Tech, 7:30

Cedar Creek at Del Valle, 7:30

Cedar Park at Harker Heights, 7:30

Glenn at Medina Valley, 7

Gatesville at Taylor, 7:30

Canyon Lake at Wimberley, 7:30

Giddings at Jarrell, 7:30

Smithville at Rockdale, 7:30

Llano at Lytle, 7

Fredericksburg at Lampasas, 7:30

Troy at Salado, 7:30

Thorndale at Thrall, 7

Nixon-Smiley at Luling, 7:30

Florence at Rosebud-Lott, 7:30

Central Texas scores from Thursday night

Westlake 35, Prosper 14

Anderson 57, McCallum 40

Weiss 42, McNeil 41 (2 OT)

Stony Point 28, East View 22

Hendrickson 14, Belton 0

West Sixth bar Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Icehouse is taking over the sprawling East Austin bar and restaurant space formerly belonging to beer garden/bakery mini-chain Easy Tiger and French restaurant LaV. WTF Sporting Club will be opening in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood at 1501 East Seventh Street on Friday, September 6.

Per the name, WTF Sporting Club is a sports bar with food and drinks. The former is centered on casual American and New American dishes; think bao flights, pizza on flatbreads, boneless chicken wings, smash burgers, and desserts. The latter includes the Pebble Beach Paloma, a bourbon-peach smash, the Magnolia Mai Tai, and the Derby Mule. There are also beers, wines, and nonalcoholic drinks.

There will be many televisions that will air various games throughout the seasons. There are high-definition televisions and a huge projection screen in the indoor space, with an LED screen outside. The large outdoor area will include bookable private cabanas, as well as a shipping container outfitted as a bar, and a deck for live entertainment. Expect events like DJ sets and podcast recordings.

WTF Sporting Club falls under the Gold Fox Hospitality umbrella, run by co-owners Habib Bakshi, Shabawn Espili, and Kahran Espili, with general manager Ryan Keas. They opened the original Whiskey Tango Foxtrot bar in 2018, taking over a former Gatti’s Pizza space.

Before WTF Sporting Club, the East Seventh address was a location of the Austin-based beer garden/restaurant/bakery mini-chain Easy Tiger. It opened in early 2021, but in early 2024, it announced it would close in April 2024. Co-founder and head baker David Norman explained it had to shutter because of weather issues and higher cost of operations. Easy still has its Linc and South Lamar locations.

And before Easy Tiger, the East Austin space was 7co, an event space run by Austin restaurant group Parkside Projects. And then, before that, the entire outdoor-indoor area was originally built out for the fine-dining French restaurant LaV, which ran from 2014 through late 2026.

WTF Sporting Club’s hours will be from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday and then from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday