Officer questioned if Austin man with BB gun killed by police on Dec. 26 had a real gun

The Austin Police Department investigates an incident in which an officer fatally shot a man who was brandishing a BB gun near an apartmet complex in Northeast Austin on Dec. 26.
Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

Austin American-Statesman
Skye Seipp, Austin American-Statesman
January 10, 2024

Minutes before shooting and killing a man who was found to be brandishing a BB gun, an Austin police officer called out on his radio that the weapon "looks like it might be a pellet gun," according to video and audio footage of the Dec. 26 shooting.

After repeated calls by the man for officers to shoot him, officer Andrew Horne, the same officer who questioned whether the gun was real, fired his assault rifle-style weapon twice — killing 63-year-old Konrad Farad Khorshahian, who police said pointed a BB-gun rifle at the officer just before being killed.

Horne and another officer, Brian Epp, repeatedly yelled at Khorshahian to "drop the weapon." Khorshahian can be heard on body-worn camera footage released Wednesday saying "no" and yelling, "F*** you," at the officers.

Austin police did not say whether the gun was a BB gun or a rifle during a press conference after the incident. The next day, in response to questions by the American-Statesman, Austin police confirmed that it was a BB gun.

Austin police revealed days after the shooting that Khorshahian had called 911 on himself, reporting that there was a man with a rifle in the parking lot of the apartment complex at 1501 E. Howard Lane. During the 911 call, which was released on Wednesday, Khorshahian can be heard telling the dispatcher that "the person" was shooting the gun, but did not say what he was shooting at. The call was disconnected right after this.

Horne and Epps arrived at the apartment at about 1:25 p.m., several minutes after the call, and saw that Khorshahian was pointing a rifle at them. The officers then stopped, exited their cars and took cover behind parked vehicles. Minutes later, after repeatedly yelling at Khorshahian to drop the weapon, police said Khorshahian aimed his rifle at Horne, who fired his weapon twice, killing him.

Both officers called out for EMS after the shooting and began providing medical aid to Khorshahian, police said. Authorities pronounced him dead at 1:48 p.m.

Horne has served with the Austin Police Department for four and a half years and has been placed on administrative leave per the department's protocol, according to a news release.