Austin’s Police Chief Called It ‘Suicide by Police.’ Civil Rights Lawyers Aren’t Buying It.

The last call Anthoneil Williams II made was to Austin police. The 17-year-old reported that someone in the area had a gun, but within minutes of officers arriving, the unarmed Black teen was shot dead.

According to the Austin Police Department, officers found Williams alone near a local playground in the early morning of July 24. He reportedly matched the description the caller gave during the 911 call. Officers said they approached him, telling him to keep his hands up. Then, Williams allegedly pointed what appeared to be a gun at officers, who opened fire and killed the 17-year-old.

Williams had no gun — just a water bottle tucked into his waistband.

Austin police acknowledged the Black teenager was unarmed. Even so, the department has publicly characterized the shooting as potentially a case of “suicide by cop,” arguing Williams provoked officers into shooting him. But civil rights attorneys and police accountability advocates say that conclusion is both premature and deeply troubling.

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We spoke to Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, who said the very concept of “suicide by cop” raises questions.

“This whole idea of suicide by police is problematic to begin with,” Bonds told The Root. “It’s kind of an admission that police are going to use deadly force without doing much investigation into someone’s mental state.”

More importantly, she said, officers have no way of knowing what Williams intended that night.

“They are drawing this conclusion based on information they can’t know,” Bonds added. “You don’t know someone has suicidal intent unless you’re a mental health professional who’s been able to evaluate them.”

KVUE reported that Black Lawyers for Justice launched an independent investigation, arguing police moved too quickly to justify deadly force before body camera footage, 911 audio and the officers’ disciplinary histories had been made public.

“Police officers should know how to de-escalate the situation,” Director Bonds continued to The Root. “Even if they couldn’t immediately tell what was in his hands, that isn’t automatically a situation where you continue firing your weapon.”

All three officers involved in Williams’ shooting have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard for APD. For Bonds, Williams’ death evokes another tragedy that transformed the national conversation around policing: the 2014 police killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

“They were both kids. They were both on playgrounds,” Bonds said. “Neither of them had a real weapon when they were shot.”

She added that Williams being unarmed makes police claims of imminent danger less convincing. “Most of us can look at this situation and ask, ‘Can you really not tell the difference between an actual weapon and someone’s fingers?’” Bonds said. “The officers’ justification seems much less credible in these circumstances.”

Bonds fears those contradictions widen the distance between police and the people they serve. “People worry officers will show up, shoot first, ask questions later, and then never seriously examine whether there was another way,” she told us.

For now, many of the questions surrounding Williams’ death remain unanswered. But civil rights advocates continue to press for the release of key evidence before accepting the department’s conclusion that this was simply “suicide by police.”

Until then, they argue, the death of an unarmed Black teenager deserves deeper investigation.