AUSTIN -- A man fired several shots into the air while standing on the Texas Capitol's south steps Thursday before throwing down his handgun as state troopers closed in and tackled him.
The Texas Department of Public Safety says nobody was wounded in the shooting. DPS spokesman Tom Vinger says the 24-year-old suspect from the Houston area was taken to the Travis County Jail and faces felony charges of deadly conduct. He was identified as Fausto Cardenas.
The Capitol rotunda and grounds were full of tourists and employees when the shots rang out. State troopers and Texas rangers flooded the Capitol, prepared to meet fire with fire.
Elizabeth Holloman was visiting the Capitol as part of a trip to learn more about state government. She walked right past the accused gunman only minutes before the shots were fired.
“He wasn’t doing anything. He was just standing there, and we weren’t in their like five minutes and we heard pow pow pow pow pow, like five times,” said Elizabeth Holloman, witness. “He had his hands in his pocket and the officer told him to take his hands out of his pocket, and he did just like this and they threw him on the ground and put their knee on his back and then they made us go back inside.”
The south steps of the Capitol were blocked by yellow police tape. No motive for the shooting has been determined.
What ended outside, started on the third floor of the Capitol in the office of Houston Republican Senator Dan Patrick.
Staffers tell KVUE the gunman went to Patrick's third floor office, demanded to speak in private to an employee, and left.
Holly Deshield works in the office next door. She learned about the shooting from troopers.
“[They] said there was a gunman and to lock the door,” she said. “That’s all we knew until about five minutes later when we all walked to our window and saw a gunman on the ground and they were arresting him.”
Gov. Rick Perry was not in the building at the time, and many lawmakers were away from Austin because the Legislature was not in session. Perry issued the following statement:
“I commend the Texas Department of Public Safety troopers who responded swiftly to a shooter on the South Steps of the State Capitol. Thanks to their efforts no one was injured and the shooter was apprehended immediately and taken in to custody.”
Some lawmakers were inside the Capitol, though. House Speaker Joe Straus' office said he was stuck in the building while it was on lockdown. Sen. Leticia Van De Putte wrote on her Twitter page that she was also inside.
Even with one suspect under arrest, troopers kept staffers on lockdown. No one was allowed to go in or out of the Capitol building. Employees who parked on the Capitol grounds weren't allowed to leave.
“If we needed to go to the bathroom, we needed to have an escort. Under no circumstances were we to leave the building,” Deshield said.
A car was found on the west side of the Capitol and was being searched by investigators.
Cars have since been allowed to leave the Capitol grounds. At last check, access to the building itself is restricted to staffers and investigators.
Legally concealed weapons are allowed inside the State Capitol.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
